#and i didn't bother to establish a solid plot

[ryansjane]

1st quarter of 2024 shows ranked

n° of shows watched from january 1st to march 31st: 13

1. analog squad: 9/10

I deeply regret not watching this one in 2023 when it was released bc it would've been my number one favorite show of that year ;_; it's such an original and touching show with one of my favorite tropes (found family) and some of the best characters I've ever seen. definitely already an all-time favorite and a comfort show for years to come <3

2. cooking crush: 8,5/10

y'all know how much I love offgun, and while this was no not me or theory of love, this show really brought me back to my early days of watching thai dramas and freaking out over any cute interaction on my screen & I love it for that! while this show has a lot of flaws, most of them are easily forgettable when faced with such great characters & one of the cutest relationships ever! I truly thought offgun's chemistry had reached its peak in not me but I was wrong, these two never cease to amaze me they really can play any role to perfection <3

3. ready set love: 8,5/10

this show really surprised with how pretty much flawless its execution is! it's hilarious but also deals with very deep & interesting topics well, and day might be one of my favorite female leads ever! a super solid show that is honestly gonna become a classic for me, I can feel it :)

4. love for love's sake: 8,5/10

this was a super sweet show that's very well done, I was dubitative of the plot at first but it really managed to pull me in & make it worth my while! one of the best kbls out there :)

5. the believers: 8,5/10

this is definitely one of the most innovative thai shows out there, dealing with a topic (religion) that I didn't think anyone would dare touch. the story had me hooked all 9 episodes & the acting performances were amazing, however I have to say this didn't pack as much of a punch as I expected it would. it's a very good show, but it stays a little surface level & doesn't explore its characters enough for me...

6. sing my crush: 7,5/10

this was very much adorable, however two things bothered me: 1) I didn't like the time jump from ep 1 to ep 2, I wish we could've seen the friendship between the characters developed more, and 2) I feel like them not revealing their feelings for each other felt a little forced & random. apart from that it's a very cute show!

7. intern in my heart: 7,5/10

this was a really enjoyable romantic comedy that I had a lot of fun in front of :) is it much more than that? not really. pretty basic but with charismatic performances that carried the show well!

8. perfect propose: 7,5/10

really sweet show that I wish was more developed & gave me more, but a good time nonetheless!

9. sukiyanen kedo do yaro ka: 7/10

this show got me, lost me then got me once again lol. I thought the chemistry for an established relationship was some of the best for a jbl, and the story was simple but endearing. but tbh something was kinda lacking for me, which made this ultimately very forgettable imo.

10. the outing: 7/10

I was SO looking forward to this show without much expectation but it still managed to disappoint me lol. the acting was very solid but there's too many characters that get introduced too late & I failed to really understand what the point or purpose of the show was. it seems to me as if this show took all of the worst points from remember 15 (the sex, the chaos, the betrayals & annoying characters), without the substance that remember 15 actually had. it's not a terrible show, and I was intrigued during it, but tbh it could've been so so much better.

11. love class season 2: 7/10

this had some of the strongest and most interesting ships I've seen in a kbl, however the writing & execution of the show was very frustrating. early on the characters barely get introduced & we struggle to understand how they're all linked together, leading to a lot of confusion on my part. it's sad bc it had a very solid story but bad execution imo :(

12. chaser game w: power harassment: 7/10

this had me very excited but sadly didn't deliver at all for me. the story is kinda all over the place & while the chemistry was really good and it's important to have japanese characters clearly labeled as lesbians, I found the acting kinda over the top as well... but it's a start for gl I guess 🥲

13. sahara sensei to toki-kun: 6/10

this is the kind of show that I managed to watch until the end... for whatever reason. but the age gap icked me out & I found that the main ship didn't have much chemistry. overall this story is very empty & didn't add anything for me, but I really liked the character of toki & would've loved to see him in a better show & ship.

[ananke-xiii]

My ranking of SPN seasons (based only on their PLOT) pt. 3

In my previous posts (here and here) I've covered the following:

15: Season 14

14: Season 15

13: Season 7

12: Season 3

11: Season 6

10: Season 13

9: Season 12

8: Season 1

7: Season 10

Let's continue!

6. Season 9: The plot for this season runs on parallel tracks: on one hand we have the consequences of the spell that Metatron cast at the end of season 8 (ie: angels have fallen, chaos ensues); on the other hand, we have the heroes' quest, finding and killing Abbadon. These 2 parallel plots find their meeting point in the Mark of Cain: frustrated because he's unable to kill Abbadon AND because of his serious fallout with Sam, Dean gives in and accepts the curse. His choice will have immense consequences on the heaven-related plot: it will be revealed that Castiel, who was working to settle things out in heaven, will give up everything to save Dean. Plot-wise, this was a good season. Once again, I felt that the death of a secondary character (Kevin Tran, RIP my poor baby boy), was done for emotional sake and to aggravate the heroes' fallout. It felt unnecessary, cruel and, frankly, not well thought-out (but the writers have already made the same mistake with Bobby and will make it again with Charlie SO at this point I think that they know what they are doing, I simply don't agree with their writing choices). All in all, the season was quite good, it did its job. Can't complain.

5. Season 2: This season expands on the season 1 plot, so basically we are still dealing with the heroes' personal vendetta against the Yellow Eyes demon who killed their mother. However, this time we are presented with more allies and enemies, the Winchesters' backstory gets more complicated and we start to guess that there's more at stake for the two brothers. It's not just payback anymore: the plot starts to thicken and we glimpes that higher powers were pulling the strings all along. Mary Winchester's death was destined. It's a strong season that starts with John's death and almost ends with Sam's death but not quite: the last episode is able to keep us interested for what's to come as we find out that Dean has made a demon deal to save his brother. I didn't like some "minutiae", like the whole thing about other humans being infected with demon blood at 6 months old as a "back-up" plan in case Sam was not the One. Sorry but when Destiny enters the chat you either go all-in or not, there are no back-up plans. Also, it turns out that Sam is not exactly The One since he gets killed by the other guy whose name I forgot. Soooo, you know... this doesn't sound solid, you can tell that the whole thing is there to 1) fill in episodes; 2) give writers some space in case things don't go as planned. I don't know, I was kinda bummed about it, yeah.

4. Season 5: This might sound controversial but... I didn't exactly like season 5's ending. I know that, according to the majority of articles I've read, this is considered THE perfect SPN season but.. you know, it doesn't cut it for me. The plot is very good, though, so here's why it's still high on my own personal ranking. Once we've established that Sam and Dean are the destiny's children (LOL) and that their own existence was predestined, we are now left with the big IF. A sort of "will-they-won't-they". Will Dean say YES to Michael and become his vessel? Will Sam say YES to Lucifer? I like it, this is good and the plot is well-developed throughout the whole 20+ episodes. BUT, here's the BIG but. I hated, HATED, the "Adam becomes Michael's vessel so that Dean can safely say no and the plot can still go as planned" expedient. I truly hate this kind of things with a passion. First thing first, I detest writers when they introduce "disposable" characters such as Adam (and many others in the show, tbh). This is my own personal pet peeve so I can understand why other people are not as bothered by this as I am. Aside from that, as I've said before, once you introduce DESTINY in the plot you cannot have back-up plans. If you do, the whole concept is weakened and, as a refult, the plot feels cheap. We had established that Dean and Dean only could be Michael's vessel. However, SURPRISE! Adam, being his half-brother, can be a vessel, too! Yu-hoo, Apocalipse can still happen even if Dean says NO! Ma'am, please. No. It's also very sexist since it implies the father's blood is the predominant factor in this whole charade (Adam is John's Winchester third ((maybe, who really knows at this point??) son). This is a big NO for me. Since it's an intrinsic part of the plot I can't walk away from this.

[opha]

warning: fallout prime (derogatory) spoilers

i'm giving the fallout show a fair shot (pirated, of course; even if it was the best fallout media in existence i would refuse to give amazon anything for it). everything that isn't the plot is fine. funny, even, at times. first episode, as much as i hated having to see the BoS so soon, was pretty solid. i laughed out loud more than once at the "representation" knight titus brought to the BoS and it's exactly what they deserve.

the plot itself has very low internal logic from episode 2 on that isn't about the lore at first so much as basic inconsistencies (like "how strong is the power armor's punch", "is the ghoul supposed to be superhuman", etc) with way too many contrivances to carry the story forward. everyone is exactly where they need to be at just the right time, and sometimes they don't even bother to justify it.

then from episode 5 on, when they start to establish their original part of the fallout canon, pretty much every plot reveal makes no goddamn sense and it lapses into "we don't need to explain why this non-ghoul woman has been alive for more than 200 years" level plot craters. sometimes it feels like they're writing like the bombs dropped 20-40 years ago rather than 200. shady sands has a fucking vault under it. you know, the settlement that didn't exist pre-war and was created with vault 15's GECK? yeah. not even gonna get into the whole profit motive for the great war making no fucking sense because vault-tec knew roughly how many people were going to be left in the US after nuclear war, which could be intentional, but it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth that they came right out and said who started it at all. it was left vague in classic fallout on purpose.

before ep 5 i thought it could end up marginally better than fallout 3/4/76, at least. the only relief i have now is that i haven't had to deal with the bethesda-esque dumbing down of super mutants so far. please tell me there aren't super mutants.

[skylights422]

New X-Men '97 tomorrow! I am very excited! But I also had meant to make more posts reviewing the first three episodes. It was going to be multiple posts over different topics, but I am short on time and organizational energy, so I am just gonna make two posts over the biggest topics: The Romance Drama, and The Plot. Romance drama first! It got Long, so it's under a cut. xD (And a quick disclaimer that any negative opinions on the canon writing of couples doesn't mean I dislike people for shipping any of it; I almost never ship anything personally just as a matter of personal preference, but am very much a Ship And Let Ship/Don't Like Don't Read kind of person)

First, I will just say that the Jean/Scott/Logan drama was...always the most boring and confusing part to me in the 90s show? I just didn't feel like they did enough to show why Wolverine was SO in love with her when it seemed like they never spent any time together normally or had any major bonding moments? So I felt like he was just pining based on appearance and the fact they were teammates, which...is fine I guess but not the sweeping, dramatic unrequited love it was always portrayed as.

(I mean Wolverine was so torn up about them getting married he REFUSED TO ATTEND and instead spent time trying to kill an illusion version of Scott in the Danger Room, that's. Very dramatic! And for what? Maybe they covered it a little bit in an episode I haven't re-watched yet but I remember Past Me at least not finding the explanation impressive enough lollll)

So, I'm not...super looking forward to more of it in this new show, but also expecting it since it was always such a feature. I'd rather not have Jean kinda date Logan just because she's mad at Scott and Logan wants to? But it won't shock me. By and large I have made peace with my dislike for that particular love triangle since I'm otherwise such a fan of both series. (And so far anyways Logan has been a little less weird about his unrequited feelings even if they're still pretty obvious)

THEN we have the Rogue and Magneto romance. This one I have had more mixed feelings on. My kneejerk reaction was confusion and dislike - I didn't know until I looked it up after the episode that they were together in the comics, and since they weren't in the previous show, it felt...really random. (Also I am just not much a fan of couples with large age gaps, obviously Rogue is an adult and can do what she wants, it's just not my cup of tea. Plus Rogue and Gambit is one of maybe, like...five? Couples in media? That I have any investment in AS a romantic couple lol, but mostly I was just not looking forward to more romantic drama in general since it's just not something I tend to enjoy much)

Now I have two opinions. One is simply that I am Over feeling bothered by it and just curious to see what they do with it, since Rogue and Magneto do have some compelling thematic reasons to have scenes together anyways. And Rogue and Gambit definitely COULD have a mature conversation about it, which would actually be pretty neat.

Now my main quibble is that it was introduced so suddenly, and with so little explanation. As a general rule, I do NOT consider 'it happened in the source material' to be a valid excuse for anything in an adaptation unless it also makes sense within the established lore/characterization/etc. of the adaptation itself. A Doylist explanation existing does not remove the need for a solid Watsonian one, and if there just...isn't a Watsonian explanation, then I feel it is lazy writing at best, actually terrible writing if done badly enough.

There's definitely still time for them to give some kind of flashback or explanation for Rogue and Magneto though! You can introduce new aspects to character's pasts, in general. So I am holding out my final opinion to see if they do that, and in what way.

On a smaller, technically still hypothetical note, next for romance drama we have: Morph crushing on Wolverine. I do agree that it's extremely possible, even likely, that Morph seeming Interested in Wolverine in this version is deliberate - I mainly say hypothetical because I have seen some VERY overtly queercoded stories/scenes/etc. be written genuinely by accident, and at this point I'm really not sure how it was intended (like, if it's meant to be anything bigger than the scene itself or not).

And once again, I have mixed feelings on it. On one hand, having an openly gay character in an X-Men cartoon is good! It's nice to see some diversity in orientation. And Morph makes sense since they are the closest to a blank slate as you can get with a pre-established character, only being in nine episodes total of the original series - very spread out ones, as well.

But well, there's two reasons I feel kind of egh about it. One is that nearly all the Established Duos that got a lot of attention in the original show were romantic ones, and as someone who is fundamentally more invested emotionally in non-romances, I really liked the thought of having a best friend duo to fixate on. (We do still have Magneto and Xavier but XAVIER IS DEAD RIGHT NOW SO IT ONLY HALF COUNTS)

The other is that it...would almost definitely be another unrequited crush. Which for one, is just drama that isn't interesting to me. But also I dunno if 'sad gay bravely accepts never getting with the love of their life' is amazing rep for...friendships OR gay people??? Like you could write it so that Morph is genuinely fine being 'just' friends, and maybe in an ideal world that would even kick Wolverine into considering he could maybe be More Normal About Jean. But I worry about their friendship falling apart or it being made out to be 'not enough' to Morph and ultimately just making everyone look bad (and also if they push too hard on the Sad Morph Angle I feel like it could just be another case of villainizing people for not returning affections which I just, REALLY HATE)

SO I'M ON EDGE ABOUT IT. Possibly they won't do much with the concept at all, which I'd frankly prefer. Possibly they'll find a way to write the one-sided romance that is actually considerate to both sides and doesn't destroy their friendship. Possibly they'll even introduce other gay couples somewhere in the show so the rep for it isn't all riding on Morph's shoulders! But I am also very aware how easy it would be to do this wrong. SO WE'LL SEE.

[purplekoop]

Koop Talks About (#1)... Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves A 9th-Level Pleasant Surprise!

So the first of the movies I watched with my dearest partner during our thanksgiving meetup trip was the D&D movie, which... I'll be blunt, I didn't really expect much from. As much joy as I've had with DnD over the past few years, I don't really give much credit to DnD itself as a "brand". My memories come from the primarily homebrewed campaigns and thoroughly original PCs, saturated with house rules and whatever the hell I convinced my partner would fit in a DnD game. I even started a campaign of my own with an original setting, though it sadly didn't last long due to personal motivation. But all these memories I associate more with each game as separate entities from the nebulous basic concept of DnD, so an original story relying entirely on established official DnD monsters, locations, and characters didn't have much innate appeal to me.

Fortunately, Honor Among Thieves doesn't rely on pure DnD iconography and fanservice to be a solid film. It instead is a solid film on its own right, a fun and satisfying fantasy film that uses the props of established DnD material to tell a good story just as any Dungeon Master would. I have next to no complaints with it as just a movie, and the context of it serving as a big screen adaptation of a plausible DnD adventure smooth any gaps in its score for me. (Not that I'm scoring these things, don't expect THAT much from me.)

So let's start the in-depth topics where any DnD game does: the cast of characters.

What'd be of concern in a true DnD game but is more excusable in the context of a mainstream motion picture is the fact the movie has a clear main character: the questionably named Edgin, played by one of the Hollywood Chrises of all time, Pine. Pathetic as an alleged Bard (doesn't cast a SINGLE bard spell, he just sings a couple times, coward), Edgin is the cornerstone of the story, serving as the focal driving force of the plot and the (eventually assembled) party. We meet him and his longtime adventuring cohort, the barbarian Holga (played by Michelle Rodriguez), at the very start of the film, and follow their story throughout, from dramatic backstory retelling to the end. It's Edgin's story, which feels a bit skewed in focus for a DnD context, but I understand and agree with giving the story a definitive focal character for the sake of being a simple and cohesive film. It helps that his story is effective, with his character being charming yet flawed in a way that I thankfully think adds up to being likeable. Fortunate also that the overwhelming majority of this movie's "MCU dialogue" is confined to him, which I was personally unbothered by here. It contrasts a bit with most of the cast speaking in believable enough fantasy speak, but it fits for his sort of "scheming quick-witted bastard" persona, plus I guess also makes him a grounding point for an unfamiliar broader audience to attach to. The more modern speaking patterns are generally contained to the main cast of the four "player characters", so again, it's fair enough they don't keep the act quite as well as the "NPCs". I can see it be a bit grating to some, but personally I thought it was fine.

Oh yeah, I glossed over Holga. As great as she is, there's not much to say on her. Barbarians are usually pretty simple but great, lady barbarians are even better. She's not too "whimsical" of a barbarian, she doesn't say "I would like to rage" verbatim, much less do anything that looks like an active "rage state", but frankly it doesn't bother me too much. She's not too complicated, but she has some great moments, and has a subtle but solid performance.

Third of the four is Simon the sorcerer, played by Justice Smith of Detective Pikachu fame and also probably other things. He's the character with the second most "MCU dialogue", but his weird semi-accent he plays the character with hides it a little better. He's also the only one of the party's three casting classes to actively cast spells, but like. It'd be annoying to conveniently explain to a general audience what makes this magic different from this magic and this magic, so I get minimizing who actually gets to do casting. You could argue even that DnD has the problem of relying on casting as a mechanic a bit too much, but hey that's a different opinion ramble. Anyways Simon. He's fun too. He has the second most prominent story arc of the party, which while simple is still satisfying to see to its fruition. It's also fun to see an adaptation of wild magic specifically, which I do wish was extrapolated on further but again, I get keeping it simple.

Last up is Doric, the tiefling druid played by Sophia Lillis. Unfortunately she's also the least up, at least in screentime. She joins the story a significant portion after the rest of the main party, and while around for most of the ride she still feels a bit disconnected from the plot. After being shakily convinced to aid in the quest, she does get a really fun action scene to show off her wild shape abilities. While very much bending the technical rules backwards for most of her scenes with the ability (in some cases even impacting the official game, I believe the rules on what you can turn into were altered for the next major edition specifically to allow for turning into an owlbear like in the movie), I'm willing to ignore that for how fun they get with the gimmick. Again, slightly weird how her druid magic is limited to just wild shape, but again, it's fine, we're keeping it simple and approachable, I get it. I also get the choice to not give her the more conventional bright chromatic skin tone most players associate with tieflings. With the horror stories for how full-body painted live action characters have been on the actors (Drax being a notably egregious-sounding example), I don't blame them for keeping the demonic details restrained. The tail is cute at least, got that much. Her performance is also a bit low-impact, but she has her moments in the group dynamic, even if somewhat sparse.

The side characters meanwhile I have no complaints for. The hyper-competent temporary paladin party member Xenk (played by the eye-pleasing Regé-Jean Page) was a delight, both in the incidental comedy he brought and also the genuine sincerity he grounds the plot with.

The antagonists meanwhile are minor spoilers (though fairly obvious and short-term) so skip this next paragraph if you want to dodge those:

The glorious scheming bastard Forge Fitzwilliam (played by Hugh Grant, the glorious voice of the Pirate Captain from Pirates: Band of Misfits/In an Adventure with Scientists and nothing else possibly as important) is an absolute delight of a scheming love-to-hate villain, whose lack in actual threat besides financial power is made up for by the less entertaining but thoroughly menacing Red Wizard, Sofina (played by Daisy Head). They balance each other out nicely, and I feel like the movie's lineup of antagonists is both enjoyable and functional as a result.

Moving away from the characters themselves to how they're presented, the effects in this movies are faaaaaanTASTIC. The highest praises I heard sang for this movie in advance were towards its use of animatronics, suits, and other practical effects to depict some of the forgotten realms' more fantastical yet mundane inhabitants. About every other scene features a dragonborn, tabaxi, or aarakocra, which is brought to life with real, physical, classic effects. It adds such an element of richness to the world and makes the film feel so much more sincere. The more typical modern big-budget CGI effects are of course here in spades as well, but their presence feels earned and reserved for just the effects that like... yeah no, you're not doing that with modern physical technology. Helps that these effects also look good, which, yeah, they do. There's an effect or two for a gag that feels a little "modern" or otherwise out of place, but these are pretty sparse and still entertaining enough to pass as a suspension-bending bit that any DM with a sense of humor would allow.

I think that brings me to the last big thing that I think I need to give credit to this movie for: it works great as a movie, but it also feels right as a DnD movie. It's a well-told fantasy story that sets up and pays off a solid story with a solid cast in a beautifully depicted world. But just as much, it feels like DnD. The superficial references, like the specific array of iconic monsters the movie draws from and the names of locations and such, even the mechanics of certain spells and items, those are all great, and my partner especially adored some of the more niche references. But like I said earlier, DnD to me is just as much an energy, a feeling, as it is a set of rules and pre-built assets. It's the subtleties of how the party makes their plans and talks about their backstories, the way the world and adventure is framed, even the staging of the final fight scene, all bends conventional action film etiquette in favor of feeling authentic to the experience of playing DnD in a way that works shockingly well, all without shirking the film's duties as a film released in theaters for a mainstream audience. There's not really any moments where I think I'd need to explain something to my mom or anyone equally clueless on DnD's mechanics, they could just watch it as a solid fantasy adventure flick. It's two exceptionally well done layers of enjoyment, which I think is even more exceptional on its own.

So yeah, even to someone who literally knows nothing about DnD, I can recommend this one pretty comfortably. It's a fun action movie that doesn't fall into every pitfall of modern action movies, keeping a sincerely enjoyable solid story to the end. It's not groundbreaking, but it's still great. To someone who does know DnD... well uh, honestly my glowing review wavers a bit depending on how picky you are. If you're willing to excuse the mechanical inaccuracies and oversights for the sake of making the film a more accessible watch to broader audiences, then this film is even better than it is to those audiences. If you're not though, then... well honestly I think that's just as much a "you" problem as it is an issue with the movie. Yes I know nothing short of a level 20 druid can wildshape that much without a rest, just shut up and watch the lady turn into animals a bunch in this cool action scene, it's fine.

On a similar note to adaptations, the next two are also adaptations of game franchises: one that still thoroughly confuses my tiny brain, and one that I think I can confidently say I know a little more about.

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Steelworks #1 - Solid first issue. Dorn makes some rookie mistakes as expected from a first time comic writer. Lot of talking, not much action, the scenes with Irons and Nat debating the impact of superheroics would have been better served if it had been the two of them verbally sparring with each other while physically beating up some bad guys. Good handle on the voices for Steel, Natasha, and Lana nonetheless, happy to see Pak's establishment of the Steel/Lana romance is finally acknowledged again. Ghost of Amertek coming back to haunt Irons is a good idea, as is Dorn establishing that Irons has his own ideas on what's best for Metropolis that aren't the same as Clark's. Didn't expect Dorn to be the first DC writer to use data pages post-Hickman, but I loved to see them! I can't find much info on if Dorn was a sci-fi fan before he was cast as Worf in Star Trek, but if so his use of data pages would make a lot of sense.

Batman #136 - Least the Multiverse bullshit is over, but now we've gone from rehashing Morrison to rehashing Snyder's Death of the Family. If that scene between Bruce and Selina is any indication, this Gotham War event will be the final nail in the coffin for the romance, at least for a good while. Bummed but unsurprised by that. At this point I'm only reading for the Zur plotline, the Batfamily and Catwoman plots aren't interesting me.

Shazam #2 - Didn't think that when Waid said we'd see the extended family relatively soon that he meant the second issue, but it was nice to see them all the same.

Flash #800 - Picked this up and overall I enjoyed it. Adams and Waid were the best, fun stories that celebrated Wally and Bart. Williamson was pretty good too, Barry finally gets to best the deadbeat dad accusations when it comes to the Tornado Twins. Johns' story was pretty basic, mostly just a recap of who Hunter is, but I liked how he took Williamson's retcon and used it to get Zoom back to being a villain in a way that makes sense. With Zoom back in play I wonder if there are plans to use him in Spurrier's run. Speaking of which, Spurrier's story was the weakest. I don't mind the drama with Linda - Adams made everything drama free and the sales were soft, so by all means introduce some tension there - and I liked the premise of Wally fighting Lovecraftian monsters. But this feels like it would be a better fit for Barry. I'll check out the first issue all the same.

Joker #9 - Hilarious that this book finally starts moving on the Jokers plot, just in time for a two month break for Knight Terrors. I don't know if I'll bother to pick it up again in two months, Rosenberg's decompression has become too much for me. Genuinely funny back-ups and one or two good jokes in the main book can't justify the price tag, or the snail's pace storytelling.

Immortal X-Men #12 - More is done with Colossus' mole status in one issue here than the entire X-Force run.

X-Men #23 - I regret giving Duggan a stay of execution. Why does Stasis keep coming across as a loser? Gets taken out with ease in Sins of Sinister, gets humiliated by Righteous here. Since Hickman left, Orchis has come across as a joke that the X-Men inexplicably can't crush instead of a legit threat. Not a great approach as we're right on the cusp of Orchis making their big move.

Loki #1 - Picked this up solely because Watters was writing, and he did not disappoint. Great story, reminiscent of Gillen and Ewing Loki of course, but also of Watters own Lucifer series.

Fantastic Four #8 - Continues to be great, glad the first two parter stars Sue and Alice.

[ben-talks-art]

Thoughts on Across The Spider-Verse

(this might be a long post, I tend to ramble)

Finally got a chance to see the freaking movie and finally got a chance to put my thoughts in order to be able to put into words how I feel about it... I think.

I was really excited about this one, from the trailers, from the word of mouth, from my feelings towards the first movie, everything was pointing out to this just being a really solid movie, and without going into spoilers... It is!

I don't think it's a perfect flawless movie, but I feel it's a case where the stuff that is good is so so good that it just vastly outshines any problem it might have.

I liked the action, the story, the characters, the visuals, the humor, this is basically what I wanted, more Into the Spider-Verse. Everything that was good about the first movie is still good here but taken a few extra steps further to make it feel like an evolution of the original and not just a copy and paste.

This isn't just "oh, because they made it bigger, therefore they made it better", no they just made it better and it just happens to be bigger than the first.

Across The Spider-Verse is just a really good movie. Highly recommend it, and I recommend it going into it as blind as possible. All the trailers for this do a terrible job of showing the best scenes of the movie and this might take away some of the impact when watching it yourself so try to avoid them if you can.

Now, onto the spoilers...

First, a brief summary in case anyone is reading this without having seen the movie (for some reason):

The movie basically can be split into two halves. The first half is about Miles and his friends dealing with the new villain, The Spot, while also establishing where each character is emotionally and in maturity, probably in case any viewer didn't see the first movie.

The second half is about Miles finding out about the spider society and learning why everyone was so skeptical about letting him enter it, and when he does find out the reason, it leads to the big chase scene we saw in the trailers, and building up to a cliffhanger that will work as a segway to Across The Spider-Verse.

I first wanna talk about the problems I had cause they are rather minor stuff and I wanna get it out of the way as soon as possible.

The first one I had is Miles' plot armor during the second half of the movie. As I said, we have this giant epic chase scene where every single Spider-Person in the world is trying to capture Miles... And every single one of them fails.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Miles and I think he is a very capable and skilled superhero who's very in control of his powers... But this is just ridiculous.

Spider-Man is one of the few characters who have abilities specifically designed for capturing others, and not a single one of these guys managed to grab a kid who's only been in this line of work for a few years?

Maybe if they had established that his spider-sense is better than theirs, or if they had shown that some of the other members were aiding him, but no, apparently Miles is just THAT good, even though in the last movie he could barely handle the Kingpin alone.

Like, seriously, a lot of the chase early on is the kid just outrunning the other spiders, and one of them is a freaking car!

This does make Miles look impressive, but it also makes the spider society look a little incompetent, so I personally think it could have been handled better.

The second thing that bothered me a little, and this might be a little hard to explain, was the dialogue.

I don't know why but some of the ways certain lines segway into another doesn't feel right.

It feels like there are things that the writers wanted to have the characters saying, but the way they flow into having the characters actually saying it felt clunky to me.

Like for example, at the end of the movie there is a scene of Gwen is saying goodbye to Miles's parents and she just starts saying "Miles taught me that anything is possible!" and I'm just like "Did the parents ever say they didn't believe everything was possible?"

There's another one in the big climax of the film when Miles is going through the Terminal Velocity level of Sonic Colors and he makes a quick comment about Miguel having claws, and that leads to a few weird exchange of lines that segway into Miles making a big speech about who he is... and then he suddenly stops the speech.

Another scene has Peter telling Miles that trying to run away from the society is crazy and out of nowhere Peter just goes "I feel bad!" and just completely shifts the direction of the conversation to be about how much Peter likes Miles.

One scene early on has Gwen asking Miguel who he is and he goes "it's classified" and then seconds later he just starts telling her anyway for no reason.

I don't know, this is probably just a "me" thing, but there are a few moments where it feels like some sentence were missing or that they were trying to force the conversation to go in a direction that didn't feel all that natural to me because they wanted to reach that big epic trailer-worthy line.

This doesn't kill the movie or anything, mostly because the emotion of the dialogue still manages to come across, and again, I doubt many if any person besides me will feel that way, so just view this as a nitpick.

Now for the stuff I like...

First obvious thing are the visuals.

This movie feels as if you were following several artists' accounts on Instagram or Twitter and someone somehow smashed all their pieces of art together into one continuous story.

Every scene is a beautiful work of art full of detail, charm, and personality. I just love looking at basically everything, the characters, the backgrounds, the action scenes, it all looks so cool!

The action in particular I feel is a vast improvement over Into The Spider-Verse. I like the first movie a lot but I always felt that the action scenes, while looking good, were often not that memorable.

Like I remember who fights who in that movie, but I can never remember what exactly they do during these fights.

In here though, I totally do!

I remember exactly how each of the fights against The Spot go, how the big chase scene goes, how the confrontation of Miles vs Miguel went, even the initial fight against the Italian Vulture, I feel like that fight alone was better than most of the action we see in Into The Spider-Verse.

The fights in here are much more enjoyable to watch and follow and they also feel a lot cleaner. Even though there is a lot of stuff going on at times I never got confused at what was happening and on what to focus.

I also love how well they capture the essence of "Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man" by making Miles and the people of Brooklyn being super chill with one another.

There is a scene I really like where he's riding a train to go to a party and everyone is just okay with that. Spider-Man is just a casual part of the city in this movie, a part of the big family that is this community.

It reminds me of the scene in Amazing Spider-Man 2 where it looks like the people of New York are just friends with Spidey.

I don't know if it's realistic (never been to Brooklyn) but it is charming.

They make the people of Brooklyn seem so likable. They make everyone seem likable in this movie honestly.

It was funny following social media and seeing people commenting on the movie and all the posts that were like "Character X stole the show!" and each post basically had a different character that they were referring to.

Everyone here feels like they could be someone's favorite character. Kinda like how in the X-Men movies where everyone loves Quicksilver the most, or in Civil War where they felt Black Panther was the highlight, here it's like each character could be the scene-stealer because they each have so much personality, so much presence, so much depth. I just love all these people.

I wanna sit down a chat or just hang out with any of these characters, even the villain, he seems like he would be fun to talk to.

And the reason for that is because everyone here is doing something that I don't see often in other movies, something I don't even see often in the real world.

These people all feel like they are actually trying to understand each other.

They actually talk to one another and they actually are trying to listen to one another. They aren't just acting on impulse and being irrational, they all are like "I know where you're coming from, but this is where I am coming from, and where I'm coming from simply doesn't match with what you are trying to support."

There is even a scene where Miles' dad gets angry at him precisely because Miles just refuses to let him know where he's coming from with his actions. He wants to understand his son, but his son won't let him.

This is my favorite form of drama, when you have people with different interesting ideologies butting heads with one another. It doesn't matter if you agree with one side or the other, it just matters that you can see where each one is coming from.

The main conflict between Miguel and Miles is legit really interesting. On one side you have an adult that doesn't trust in chance and always expects that the worse might happen and therefore likes to take precautions to avoid this worst from ever happening.

And another side we have this teen who thinks he can do anything if just given a chance. Both are clashing their definitions of what it means to have power and responsibility.

Is it more responsible to do everything in your power to prevent something bad, or is it more responsible to just accept something bad will happen and do as much damage control as possible?

How much do you think you can achieve with what you have? When is the right time to say "I can't do this, I'm not good enough to handle this"?

This is the purest way of showing the difference between kids and adults. Kids always think there is a way whereas adults always think something might go wrong.

And this is being shown with a kid that challenged expectations and an adult that comes from the future, so it makes the message work even better to show the clash of dream vs reality.

Sadly the story ends on a cliffhanger so we never saw what direction the story leans on... But I kinda like that because it gives viewers time to think about it themselves and form their own conclusions before see what conclusions the writers arrive at.

Btw, I freaking love Miguel in this movie. I love his design of a dark blue suit with glowy red symbols with some sort of sketchy lines sticking out of his shoulders, I love his plasma webs and vampire claws, his wide torso combined with how he keeps running with his hands making him look like an animal, all that while still being basically the smarted guy in the room.

The way they manage to mix him being so sophisticated, so advanced, but also so savage-like with the way he moves and fights was just awesome. It's like Beast from X-Men or Goliath from Gargoyles. A nice combination of raw aggressive power while still having a lot of humanity.

I like how he isn't just being a jerk to Miles for no reason, he actually takes the time to try to get him to understand where he's coming from and why he's so serious about it. He's not just "the grumpy boss" he's just someone who's carrying a big burden with him and is trying as hard as he can to avoid seeing that burden repeated by others.

I think he was my favorite character in the movie.

Also really liked Spider-Punk. He's one of these characters who's just living in their own little world and trying to get everyone around him to accept how he works instead of trying to adapt to the environment he's in.

I was a little skeptical because Miles kept acting antagonistic towards him due to jealousy but what I enjoyed was that not only did Punk not care about that, he actually seemed to really like Miles because he feels like a personification of his beliefs of not being what people tell you to be.

How many times do we see that? The other guy in a "love triangle" (if you can even call it that) being super supportive of the first guy? It's so refreshing!

I should also probably talk about The Spot.

While I like the idea of taking a "villain of the week" (take a shot every time they use that term in the movie) and slowly turning him into a big threat, I wish his reason for hating Miles was a little more direct.

He hates him because he blew up the collider that was tearing apart dimensions and mutated his body... Except the collider was created by Doctor Octopus at the command of the Kingpin, so shouldn't Spot be angry at them as well, or even more?

I actually would have liked more if his motivation was just trying to show he's a big villain and is angry at Miles for doing the usual Spider-Man banter... Which to be fair, seems to be what they were going for the most. Spot seems more annoyed at Miles for not taking him seriously than angry at him for "ruining his life", and I kinda prefer it that way. It's a nice commentary on whether or not Spider-Man's jokes during fights might be more damaging than he expected.

When he does act as a villain, he's actually really cool

They get very creative with his black portal abilities and allow for, as I mentioned before, some very fun and memorable fight scenes.

And what's most important, he does look like he's having fun being the bad guy. He loves giving these big epic speeches, growing his powers, and causing chaos while beating up all the spider-team.

But he also still remains a very dorky dude, like when he has a small banter with the Spider-Man from India and seems worried about looking racist... Like... The guy is causing destruction and putting people's lives in danger, but he draws the line on looking like he's offending a specific culture? How can you not love that?

It reminds me of that comic where Joker gets offended after finding out he's working with a Nazi. Just how exactly do the morals of supervillains work??

Overall, he was a ton of fun.

Very creative powers and a very likable personality that allowed to some nice hero/villain banter.

Very much looking forward to seeing where they go with him. Are they gonna try to cure his body? Try to appeal to his forgiveness? Just axe him? Or what? We shall see.

Then we have the cliffhanger where we meet Miles Prowler... Which kinda makes me think of miles per hour like Tails from Sonic and thus making this badass character sound a lot sillier than he is.

The twist that the hero ends up meeting an evil alternate dimension version of himself wasn't really that surprising to be honest, but it still managed to get me hyped.

I wanna see what these two will talk about, I wanna see how their ideologies clash with one another, I wanna see how their different or maybe similar personalities are showcased in their fighting styles, I wanna see how both of them react to what they could have been, or to what they might one day be. There is a lot you can do with that setup.

Miles Prowler himself also has a really cool design. The first thing that came to my mind was that he looked like one of the early unused designs for comic Miles by Sara Pichelli.

I'm actually sad that this wasn't the official Miles look. I love braided hair.

You can tell from his few lines that he's just gonna be the biggest prick in the universe, and he knows that, and he doesn't care. It's gonna be fun to see him playing off of Miles. I just hope he doesn't end up stealing The Spot's moment in the sun. It would suck if people came out of the movie and were like "Yeah, Spot was fine... But that evil Miles though, damn!"

I hope this is like Puss In Boots 2 where each antagonist gets a fair amount of appreciation. The Spot would probably be the Jack Horner of the movie while evil Miles is The Wolf. Miguel can be Goldilocks. Just gotta give him a story arc where he realizes all he needed was the family he already had all along.

I don't have much to say about the whole "cannon events" or the whole "Miles is an anomaly" thing just yet. I think I'll need more time to think about it.

But I will say this, I'm not a fan of the idea that heroes need to face tragedy to become heroes as if tragedy was a good thing that should be promoted.

In another post, I went into more detail on this but basically, I wish stories would try to show that heroes are made not by their tragedies but by something else that makes them strong enough to overcome their tragedies.

So I hope this is the angle they choose to explore in the next movie. I would be really disappointed if the end result is just "Miles' dad needed to die for the greater good", I don't feel this is a very healthy message to send. I know that loss and pain are a part of life but they shouldn't be the thing that defines who someone is.

I guess that's about it.

Loved the movie. Glad I finally watched it. Some things I wish could have been done differently, but there is so much good stuff in it that it hardly bothers me, stuff that I probably wouldn't have thought about it myself.

Looking forward to Beyond The Spider-Verse!

Also, who's this blue armor spider lady? I want a comic about her. She looks awesome.

[loregoddess]

almost forgot I like writing these silly subjective review grading things, here's on Three Hopes

Mechanics: 47/50 Story: 8/15 Visuals and Aesthetics: 14/15 Music and Audio: 7/10 Total: 76/100, C

and non-spoiler explanation under the cut (I swear this game is a B in my heart, but I have beef with some of the writing choices)

Mechanically the game's great, it improves some of mechanics from past Warriors-style spinoffs I've played, while changing others in ways that make sense for the game setting. It's also got one of the best NG+ features when it comes to carryover data, and makes replaying the game very rewarding even if I'm replaying a route I've already cleared since I can continue to grind out class mastery or achievements for a decent amount of full playthroughs. My only major complaints were the existence of gender-locked classes (although to be fair Hopes handled the balancing slightly better than Houses in this regard), and the general decision to leave out certain characters as playable which normally wouldn't be a concern, except that with how the character and moveset mechanics were handled, several characters could have been added as part of the base game since no character has a unique moveset w/ the exception of Shez and the lords and their unique classes. Late-game maps tended to feel like a bit of a slog to work through, but the rewards were often too good to just outright skip them, and getting an S-Rank on certain maps was difficult due to low enemy spawn rate. Overall mechanics were solid though.

The story is...really hit or miss. In some routes we get a lot of extra worldbuilding or insight into certain characters, but mostly I got the sense that the writers didn't look at much of the text of Houses for their base characterization, as many characters are written solely to whatever their joke trait was in Houses, or are just completely out of character. There are a few exceptions where some characters got additional, canon-complaint characterization that really helped the character to shine, but it's honestly so hit or miss that the few good examples are offset by the lackluster or outright bizarre ones. The story pacing and plot for each route is also hit or miss, with some routes having great pacing but no logic to the plot, or some having great plot logic but shoddy pacing, or both shoddy pacing and poor logic. Some established lore is entirely thrown out the window, and new lore often contradicts the canon established in Houses, which isn't really that important unless someone's into theorycraft and piecing together the deep lore, but since I am, it bothered me a great deal.

Visually the game is an upstep in basically every way from Houses, the lighting engine really makes the now fully-fleshed out 3D environments shine, and the garish skyboxes are gone entirely, with much prettier skies replacing them in all settings. Animations are smooth, although a lot of base body language animations get reused for character models again, and no one really has unique animations. The 3D-rendered cutscenes are a huge upscale from all the Houses cutscenes though, as they utilized the upscaled character models, new environment/prop models, and lightning engine to the utmost, making them feel alive and unique. I docked a point because there's an enormous amount of white text on black backgrounds with no way to invert that, and white text on black backgrounds are something I find very difficult to read. (Also there were a lot of minor assets reused and/or edited from Houses, which like, I get from a production standpoint, but it was still a bit tacky).

Music and audio is...pretty much identical to Houses. The voice acting is phenomenal and really helps to carry some of the characters through their lackluster writing. A lot of music was borrowed from Houses, and it felt like most of it wasn't new (although I'm assuming since there's going to be a soundtrack sold as a physical album that there must have been some new orchestrations of the songs that I missed). There were a few new songs, but nothing so outstanding as to really make the soundtrack shine or feel different from Houses' music, and the reuse often wasn't done in an interesting way.

So...despite all this, I still found the game very fun to play, since I'm mostly interested in mechanics, but as a fan of the characters and what little canon lore I could scrape together from Houses, I wasn't impressed by the overall writing. The reuse of assets was understandable in some regards, but overall felt lazy when compared to the new 3D environments and completely overhauled lighting engine that brought so much life to the visuals.

I would still recommend the game to fans of this style gameplay, since mechanically there's enough to make this just as fun as other Warriors-spinoffs I've played. But if you're only interested in the story/characters/lore trying to expand what Houses offered, honestly you could just save the money and watch the cutscenes/supports/etc., comb through text dumps, and come to your own conclusions.

I quite enjoyed the game personally, and it's one of the few Warriors-style spinoffs I could see myself actually actively replaying since I feel like there's a lot I can still do, especially since it's not set up like the postgame of HW or AoC where I tended to get stuck feeling like I was grinding w/out a lot of new things to do. But the story and characterization are super not going to be everyone's cup of tea.

[astrxd]

A temporarily blind Astrid Drabble?

A/N: Holy heck. I am, so terribly sorry that this took me so long to put out!!! I found it and decided to rewrite it aaaand,,, Well, this was the result! I’m so sorry that it took me forever to post this, @aracanabraeks​!! :’)(I think this one might be a little heavier than what I usually write? I’m not entirely sure, but I feel as if it’s necessary to note that it’s not super light and fluffy, or anything!)

Blink

 “Mostof the hindrances that you and your friends cause me are generally…unseen. And as the saying goes–an eye for an eye, no?” He’dsaid. “You needn’t worry, however. I’ve decided to be mercifulby letting you keep them, at the very least. How useful they’ll beto you is simply… undetermined.”

Therewas no ultimatum, no ulterior motive–Viggo wanted revenge for theRiders’ last stunt: the destruction of his marble stronghold. Theentire purpose of kidnapping Astrid was for the sake of making apoint.For the sake of gettingeven.

Hemade a formidable adversary, and part of that was due to the factthat he wasn’t afraid to employ tactics heavier on the…unscrupulousside…in order to get what he wanted. The fact that he so casually broughtthe Scourge of Odin back down upon the Barbaric Archipelago was proofenough, but yet another one of methods he utilized revolved aroundthe fact that prolonged and close-range exposure to an Armorwing’sflameresultedin (supposedly temporary)blindness–toboth dragon and viking. Such exposure was appropriately classified astorture.

…Andin both cases of blatant inhumanity, Astrid was a victim without a choice.

Thevery real threat of hurting Stormfly if she didn’t cooperate withthe Hunters was the only thing keeping her eyes open in the face ofthe Armorwing’s inferno. Every blink risked a scale off of her bestfriend’s back, a premature spine ripped off of her tail. Thistime… there was no way out of Viggo’s plot.

“Obedient,”he had mused from somewhere in the ship cellar, a tone of purecomplacency dripping from his voice, “I believe I expected a littlemore from you, Miss Hofferson.”

Shegrit her teeth and kept her hands–which had curled into fists–gluedto her sides.

Oneday, he would crumble at her feet.

Viggo’stricks were growing dirtier and dirtier, and the fact that Astridwasa prime target was–quite frankly–rapidly becoming veryirritating.

Shewas a pawn. A bargaining chip. She knew that, and while her capturehadn’t been her most graceful moments, she surely didn’t go downwithout resisting. In the end, whether or not she went with theHunters quietly or not didn’t matter, but it brought her a shred ofcomfort to know that she put up a fight. Of course, she promised togive them much morethanan axe to the gut and a kick in the groin when she recovered.

(…Ifsheever recovered. The thought made her heart sink impossibly further.)

Theyencountered her during her morning flight-slash-patrol around the island. 

They’dtaken both her and Stormfly–again.

Theyhadn’t even bothered to restrain her, but they did disarm her–andtheyput her very own axe to her dragon’s neck.

Theyforced a captured Armorwing (who Astrid vowed to help free as soon asshe was able) to sustain its flame, only a few feet from her face.

Theygave her a choice that wasn’t even a choice.

Theygave her an option–lose her sight indefinitely, or leave with hersight and her life… but without her dragon.

Butneveragain.Never again would Astrid allow the Hunters to have Stormfly in theircustody.

…Andso she stood, in the center of the cellar, steeling herself for whatwas to come.

Shedug the soles of her boots into the grain of the wood and squared hershoulders, and she furrowed her brow in fierce determination from thevery, very beginning. The Armorwing loomed before her, and the heatimmediately bordered unbearable. It hadn’t been long before she felta sheen of sweat broke out across her forehead–but how hot her skinwas paler in comparison to the intense burnhereyes promptly experienced.

Theyquickly felt as if they were going to begin to shrivel at any givenmoment–but when she began to squint or nearly blinked, Stormflytrilled. Woefullytrilled.

ForStormfly, shechanted in her head.

Theentire time, the ones she held dearest to her heart were on her mind.It was from thoughts of them that she drew her strength, herendurance–that, and pure spite.IfViggo thought he’d be guaranteed some sort of twisted gratificationfrom seeing her suffer, then he was sorelymistaken,because she had no intention of expressing her pain. She was strongerthan this–stronger than him, and whatever he tried to put up againsther!

Andyet…

…Very,very soon came the point where Astrid grew numb to the dragon’sflame, but could hardly stand to keep her eyes open any longer. Hervision clouded and became glazed with white, everything becominglighter and lighter with each passing second. She initially refusedto give the onlooking Hunters holding down Stormfly the satisfactionof hearing her cry out in pain, and instead elected to bite down onher lip to muffle any shouts that threatened to escape–

Buteven the mightiest were susceptible to being felled.

Astrid,knees wobbly, ended up collapsing to the ship’s floorboards withinless than a few minutes,witha broken, choked, patheticgaspfor air that wasn’t heated. The sustained fire had done its job,but it also seemed to devour the oxygen in the air. Her firm resolvehad been melted by the Armorwing’s intense flames, and she resortedto pressing the heels of her palms against her eyes, as if doing sowould somehow numb the sharp, stinging sensation.

Itwas over surprisingly quickly, but every moment felt like absoluteHel.And the aftermath?

Excruciating.Every single secondofit.

Whenshe felt her dragon thunder towards her and curl protectively aroundher person, Astrid finally pried her eyes open and blinked. The sharpfwhipofStormfly brandishing her barbed tail filled her ears, but her eyes…

Shesaw nothing but white.

Theystung with both welling tears and the lingering pain of having staredat a bright source of light for an extended period of time–but shedidn’t cry. As soon as they oh-so kindlyallowedStormfly to escort Astrid back to their base, the Hunters made aquick departure in the opposite direction of the Edge… and that wasthat.

Hercondition served as a message. A warning. A taunt.

AndOdin knew what Hiccup would do when he found out.

Whenshe was safely on Stormfly’s back and well in the air, she stilldidnot allow herself to cry, because crying was givingin.She could not see the sun or the morning sky–she just assumeditwas still morning. She could not see their base in the near distanceor the rolling hills and trees beneath her. She couldn’t even seethe crown of spikes on Stormfly’s head, but she clung to thedragon’s neck with such dependency anyway. Astrid wanted to tellthe Nadder to take her somewhere secluded, but despite the dragon’sloyalty, she knew that Stormfly would take her to her friends. Itwasn’t until she reached a tentative hand to her face that sherealized that she was crying anyway. She tried to blink away thetears.

Intrusivethoughts swarmed her mind relentlessly–how uselesstosaid friends she was now that she couldn’t see, whether or notshe’d be able to see atallinthe future, how they would react. How Hiccupwouldreact. Just thinking about it made her feel guilty, as if somehow,she could have prevented this from happening. 

Even though such wasimpossible, she knew she couldpreventthe impending carnage and cycle of revenge that was likely to takeplace when her condition was revealed, but how could she keepsomething such as being blindunderwraps? How could she pretend that her world wasn’t crashing down ontop of her?

Sheonly continued to imagine–no, predict–howher future was going to further fall apart.

Combatwould be next to impossible.

DragonRacing–if not just flying in general–was just… out of thequestion.

She’dnever see the sunset, or the exotic colors of every dragon theyencountered. She’d never see her mother or father or her friends oreven her future children–andit wouldn’t be because she wasn’t present, but it would be due toa physical incapability.

Everythingwas changing, all before her very eyes. The ones what she couldn’tseewith.

Evenafter Stormfly landed, presumably back at the stables, Astridcontinued to think.Her fingers trembled and her breaths were all ragged and strained,but she strove to find some reason deep within herself.

Wouldshe ever see again? Or was she stuck in a perpetually white world?The fact that she wasn’t seeing pitchblack waspromising, and it gave her a sliver of hope that she could somehowrecover. She clung to that shred of optimistic thought, because therewas still a chance for her to beat the odds and beatViggo,but as soon as she attempted to dismount Stormfly–

“Astrid!There you are!”

GreatThor.

Sheswallowed thickly and rubbed at her eyes as she slowly swung her legover Stormfly’s back. It was a motion she’s completed with suchease and confidence time and time again, but she’d suddenly…grown wary of her footing. All she wanted to do was curl up besideher dragon and reflect and be alone,butof courseHiccuphad to come around. Quickly attempting to recompose herself, heturned towards the source of his voice and blinked, thankful that herhearing was still intact.

Astriddidn’t know how long she could maintain the illusion that herencounter with the Hunters didn’thappenand that she couldstillsee, but she would try. She’d simply have to–for the sake ofkeeping order on the Edge. Her thoughts of her future and herhappiness be damned–they couldn’t afford to make any risky movesfor the sake of getting even, and getting even is exactlywhatViggo probably wanted them to do. If Astrid knew the Hunter’sleader at all, she knew that he tried to have everything planned downto the last confrontation.

“Hey,Hiccup,” she responded soon enough, offering a brief lift of herhand as wave. Her voice sounded unbearably tightandshe had no clue about how disheveled she may have looked, butStormfly ducked her head and nudged her shoulder so that she wouldface an entirelydifferentdirection.

Somuch for being secretive.

Astridplaced her palm on the Nadder’s horn for stability. She blinked.Her world went from white, to black, to white again.

Shecould only imagineHiccup’sperplexed expression. Literally. What he looked like at the momentwas a mystery to her and–

Oh,no.

No,no, no.

Whatif she forgets?

“…Astrid,is everything okay?”

Whatif she forgets what he looks like? His eyes. His smile–all of them.The goofy, crooked one and the jokingly serious one and the heartmeltingly adoring one and… What if she forgot her other friends,too? What they all look like? It was only a matter of time before anyand all hopes of her ever seeing again would be ultimately crushed,and then… And then she’d be stuck. She’d never see Stormfly orHiccup or her friends. She’d never see the sunrise or sunset orcoloratall–

Astridtried so desperatelytoremain composed and stay levelheaded, but with such a probablyreality looming on the horizon, how could she stay calmwhenit truly, finally hit her that her entire futurewasvery likely compromised? She relied so heavily on her sight thatliving without it…

…Wouldn’tbe living at all.

Sheblinked.

Suddenly,she felt her hair get tucked behind her ear and warm, calloused palmson either of her cheeks, and she stiffened, startled. The contactalone was enough to make her walls fall in around her, while herpreviously rigid expression crumpled into that of one conveyingagony.

“Astrid?Astrid,what–what happened out there? What did you see?”

Theirony.

Astridshook her head and barked out a single, humorless laugh. Her eyescontinued to burn with a dull intensity, partially because she wascrying even harder now, but she kept her hands to herself. The thingsthat she knewshecould do with her eyes closed now seemed to be completely foreign andimpossible–even throwing her arms around Hiccup in the way that sheusually did seemed hazardous.

Shesettled for squeezing her eyes shut. The darkness was comforting,because she could pretend that she was fine despite knowing shewasn’t.

“Astrid,look at me–”

“Nothing,”shefinally snapped, the sharp bite in her trembling voice evidently notdirected toward Hiccup. She pictured him wincing. “Nothing, okay? Ididn’t–I can’tseeanything.I can’tlookat you.” Astrid could hear Stormfly coo, and she imagined thatHiccup looked worriedly over at both of their dragons, seeking somesemblance of insight as he gathered her in an embrace.

“I–Idon’t–Astrid, what are you…?”

Shefelt his arms loop around her middle, so she managed to find hisshoulders. Astrid buried her face in the crook of his neck and simplystood there,leavingHiccup to try and decipher her cryptic response for the same amountof time it took for her to compose herself to the point where sheknewshewouldn’t break down. It was only when she became astutely aware ofthe fingers rubbing circles into the small of her back that she wasdrawn out of her bout of self pity.

Asingle name was enough to make Hiccup’s hold around her waist growsignificantly tighter. She was well aware of the shift in hisstature–from comforting to downright protectiveafterso much as hearing “Viggo” leave her lips.

“What,”Hiccup grit out, “did he do?”

Shetook a shuddery breath that wracked her chest and pulled her armsfrom around Hiccup’s shoulders. It didn’t make the pain subside,let alone help her fears for her future shrink, but the blonde soonset either of her hands on what she felt as the slope of Hiccup’sneck and slowly wrenched her eyes open. They stillburned.Everything was still bleary, still white.

Hiccupwas probably only inches away from her, but at the same time… Hewasn’t there.

(Butusing that logic, the moon didn’t exist and neither did theHunters. Astrid breathed deeply again. She blinked. It still didn’thelp.)

“Itwas an Armorwing,” she managed, willing strengthtoinject her quiet voice. Astrid knew that around Hiccup, there was noneed for her to remain strongindifficult times, but it was the only way she found herself capable ofspeaking to him. “Viggo–he, he wanted revenge. But you–youhaveto, to promise, promise me that you w-won’t do anything stupid.”

Astrid…Astrid was conflicted. On one hand, Hiccup had taught her thatemotion was natural,andthat they didn’t live in a world as brutal and ruthless as theyinitially thought. With the resurgence of a new massive threat intheir lives, however, that notion immediately caved in on itself.What wasshe,if not the resilient, hardy Hooligan that her people were known tobe? What happened to the viking who had so firmly believed inherself, and believed that she was stronger than anything Viggo triedto do to harm her?

“Astrid,”Hiccup said again, this time more sympatheticallyhurt,and it was as he’d said her name a million times over in the pastminute with different tones each instance. She knew that he wantedher to continue to explain.

“Hiccup,I’m–”

Shechoked on the next word, a sob ripping from her throat, becauseadmitting it made it real.Admitting it made it feel like Viggo won,and she’d be damned before she let something like that happen.Astrid felt Hiccup tense further, and she squeezed his shoulders,sniffling and breathing choppily.

“…Bl–ind.”

Itfelt like a massive wave crashing onto an unsuspecting shore. It hither like a Catastrophic Quaken barreling into her at full force,knocking the wind out of her lungs and sending her reeling.

Shewas blind.

Sheblinked. Astrid felt as if her mind was still foggy with disbeliefand sheer horror,but saying it out loud… It helped. Somehow, it helped, and deepdown, she knew that acceptingitwas the first step to overcomingit.

Hiccup’ssilence, however, was terriblyconcerning.Astrid lifted a shaky hand to thread her fingers through his hairwith slight uncertainty. She couldn’t use her thumb to smooth awaythe creases in his brow that she knew were there, so she had tosettle instead. His presence was grounding, and it made her thinkmore practically–it made her realize that the only thing left to dowas cope,notcry.

Ithurt, but knowing that he was worried about her… hurt more.

“Maybeit’s temporary–”

“Hiccup…”

“Wecan get you to Berk and have Gothi–”

“Hiccup–”

“Astrid,we can still–”

“Youknow,” Astrid interjected (again), “all I could think about washow useful those Deathsong amber goggles you made would have been,”she whispered, fingers curling at the hair at nape of his neck. Shethen pressed her palm to his cheek and leaned forward–he got thememo, thankfully, and their foreheads met. She thoughthehad his face committed to memory, but now that the situation requiredher to draw upon those memories, they were… Gone?

Notgone,but buried.

Byfear.

Byanger.

Byirrational thought.

Sheblinked. She smothered those feelings by reminding herself thatletting them fester would only make matters worse.

“I’msor–”

“Don’t,”Astrid interjected, both pleadingly and in warning. He wiped histhumb against the corner of one of her eyes, presumably to wipe awayher tears, but she squeezed them shut reflexively. “Don’tapologize.”

“…”

“What’sdone is done,” she said, her tone indicating that what she had tosay was final, though it retained its shakiness. Astrid tried sodesperately to sound okay,but…“Apologizingwon’t, c-can’t change–this.”Astridwaved a hand toward her face.

“Iwas… just going to say that–I, I’m here,Astrid. You were there for me, and… And now it’s my turn.”

…Itdawned on her then.

Thevalue she had was not determined by, nor was it reliant, the heightof the senses. Despite lacking her sight entirely, what she said wastrue–the only way to go about her life at this point?

Work past it.

Learna little morefromHiccup.

Swiftly,and with practiced ease, she pressed a kiss to the apple of his cheekbefore slipping out of his arms to find her dragon, ignoring thestrain of keeping her eyes open. The rough texture of Stormfly’sscales was beneath her fingertips in mere seconds–Astrid didn’thesitate once in pulling herself onto the Nadder’s back.

Shewasn’t okay. She was far from okay.

Butshe was guaranteed not to be okay for the rest of her life if she didn’t at least try to move forward.

“Whereare you–”

“Thefirst thing you did was fly,” Astrid reminded him, squaring hershoulders as she curled her fingers against the bar of Stormfly’ssaddle. She sucked in a deep breath. “And that’s exactly what I’mgoing to do.”

IfViggo Grimborn thought he could eliminate AstridHofferson fromthe game, he was painfully mistaken. Sightor no sight, she’d overcome the trials set out before her–shealways had, anyhow.

Sheblinked.

[your-brilliant-lady-m]

Part 4 - Basic Concepts of Miraculous Ladybug: Glamour

You can call it however you want: kid's show logic, superhero disguise logic, magical girl show logic, cartoon laws, suspension of disbelief, etc. But the fact that nobody recognises Marinette, Adrien and others when they are suited up IS NOT BAD WRITING. It's one of the main laws of this genre. That's not because characters are stupid, okay? So, being frustrated that everyone in the show acts stupid about this "wearing a mask that covers only eyes" trope is strange. This criticism is not valid or fair.

But, this trope has to make sense in-universe as a worldbuilding and narrative element.

Miraculous doesn't give us much direct information on how glamour works. And in this case, I think we need both SHOW and TELL. Because if you don't establish the glamour rules clearly, you are going to run into problems and create unfortunate implications with your storytelling choices.

Appearance

Miraculous obviously gives our heroes magical glamour. In "Lady WiFi" we find out that masks can't be taken off. It's magic. No other explanation is needed.

Miraculous can slightly change the appearance of users (eyes, face shape, height and hairstyles). People can identify and notice the hairstyles of heroes (numerous Ladybug wigs, statue in Copycat). Jagged Stone points out the change of hair when he mistakes Chloe for Ladybug ("Antibug"). But it's just a costume. There is no magic that prevents Jagged from understanding that Chloe isn't Ladybug. So, how does it work? But it's forgivable because it's cartoon logic. Suspension of disbelief works here, I suppose. I won't judge this too harshly.

Glamour also obviously prevents people from making a connection that Marinette and Ladybug have identical hairstyles. So people know that Ladybug wears her hair in pigtails, but magic does not allow them to notice similarities.

Another important question. Does glamour work on Kwamis? Can they see who is behind the mask?

New York Special makes it clear that magic does not affect robots and they can see through glamour. Does that mean that Markov, AI built by Max, knows the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir? And it's never addressed.

Plagg in "Frightningale" says that holders can subconsciously choose their superhero appearance. This is actually pretty interesting and I like this idea a lot. Except the show is not consistent with this. The transformation of Master Fu looks identical to Nathalie's. And we have seen how different from each other Ladybug and Black Cat holders looked in the past. At the same time, Master Fu and Nino have different takes on Turtle superhero suit.

Age Glamour

Does age glamour exist? Do people see Ladybug, Chat Noir and other heroes as adults even when they look like teenagers to the audience (their height and build are smaller even when they are transformed)? Is that why no one ever questions the fact that children nearly die on a daily basis?

I mentioned unfortunate implications earlier. Well, this is where they come into play. Let's talk about "Copycat". A lot of people discussed it before me, so I won't bore you with details.

When I watched "Copycat" for the first time Theo's crush on Ladybug didn't bother me, because I thought that he sees Ladybug as his peer, a girl who is about 20-23 years old. Theo is an artist, his character design is that of an adult. He has his own studio, its appearance indicates that he did serious commissions in the past. The guy has no idea that Ladybug is like 13.

But then we get "Heroes' Day" and "Ladybug". And Hawkmoth calls them "kids", which means that there is no age glamour. Others see Ladybug and Chat Noir as teenagers. Perhaps, other Miraculous users aren't affected by age glamour. Therefore regular people see all heroes as adults but other heroes are able to guess their age more or less correctly. But you must spell this thing out because the audience can interpret "Copycat" differently. If there is no age glamour, then Theo is crushing on a teenage girl and he is fully aware of this fact. And this doesn't look good for your show.

The "No Age Glamour" theory is further confirmed in "Sapotis" where Alya just straight up analyses voice recordings and says that Ladybug is a girl their age. If glamour exists then it should also cover technology. Kwami can't be photographed. Face and voice recognition software shouldn't be able to analyse transformed superheroes and detect their identities in any way.

Besides, after "Sapotis" Alya should definitely be sure that Ladybug is not 5000 years old (also not an adult), especially after she wore Miraculous herself and was one door away from detransformed Ladybug.

SEASON 4 UPDATE! There's no age glamour after all.

In "Furious Fu" Su Han calls Chat Noir a child without knowing his identity. It means that everyone knows their superheroes are teenagers. "Copycat" can't be saved from that, uh, subtext anymore. No one questions the danger of their job or the balance of their lives outside of the mask. No one doubts their competence after "Origins" ever again. No one becomes annoyed after being bossed around by two teenagers in spandex. You had many opportunities to drop these details into the narrative. Someone could have been akumatized over this (I will not be ordered around by some magical kids!).

I don't know why writers decided not to use at least this idea and slightly adjust "Copycat" if they got rid of the age glamour completely. It can be explained as kid's show logic, but unfortunately, I'm reluctant to do it. If many characters sympathise with akuma victims on-screen, why not with the teenage superheroes who must fight them?

New York Special had this weird focus on collateral damage out of nowhere (the damage done by sentimonster Robostus) and yet it has 0 effect on the main story. No one in Paris is pissed that their 2 teenage protectors weren't there.

Ironically, "Furious Fu" and that one remark made by Su Han also created unfortunate implications for other moments in the show. Just hear me out. Apparently, Jagged Stone wrote a "thank you" song for Ladybug knowing that she is 13-15 year old child back in "Pixelator". Fandom is more than happy to roast Lila for lying about saving Jagged Stone's cat and him writing her a "thank you" song. Fandom claims that Lila's tale could harm Jagged's reputation, when he wrote a song for teenage Ladybug several weeks prior. Meanwhile, in-universe this lie is 100% believable.

If we put on "realism glasses", then both this whole song situation and Theo's crush in "Copycat" have uncomfortable implications. However, the show's canon can't be viewed and criticised through "realism glasses". I admit that bits and pieces of my criticisms are affected by these "glasses", but, ultimately, I'm trying to be fair and concentrate only on things that can't be justified by "cartoon logic and worldbuilding".

Could the existence of age glamour solve this problem of unfortunate implications and other concerns mentioned above? YES. Is it better for the narrative? YES. Is essential for the story? NOT QUITE. Could the absence of age glamour be called an irredeemable storytelling flaw? NO.

Disclaimer: On a side note, only older audience can notice these implications. Children, the target audience, most likely won't understand this subtext simply because they don't have enough experience. So, perhaps, this criticism is unfair, because these moments only look weird to me as an adult. It's like an adult joke in a cartoon that you don't get until you reach a certain age.

There's nothing technically wrong with adult writing a "thank you" song for a teenager. It's just an expression of gratitude. However, unfortunately, we live in a world, where adults normally wouldn't write songs for teens to express gratitude only. In real life similar actions would imply pedophilia and would be actively scorned by the public. No one would risk their reputation like that even if their intentions were genuinely pure and sincere. But this show can't be viewed through "realism glasses", because it's a cartoon and in certain cases we as the audience must use suspension of disbelief and pretend that certain things are possible for plot to happen.

Su Han also wants to give Ladybug and Black Cat to adults. Why didn't Master Fu do this then? Writers don't give us any explanation. Throughout the show we never question this up until the moment it's revealed that adults don't have time-limited powers. Then comes "Furious Fu". Story suddenly becomes self-aware here. Because apparently nothing prevented Fu from giving the most powerful Miraculous to adults who won't have time limit and will be more effective against Hawkmoth (see part 3 for more details).

I have a very good example of Age Glamour done right. It works in the story. There is no confusion or unfortunate implications. There is like one plothole connected to the glamour (it's been years and I still can't forgive them for Cornelia and Caleb) but otherwise, it's a pretty solid example of both show and tell. Clearly, writers wanted to avoid uncomfortable implications which are present in "Copycat". I am talking about W.I.T.C.H. comic books and animated series.

If you are not familiar with it, I'll give you a brief explanation. The story follows 5 girls, the Guardians of Kandrakar who are chosen to protect their world and parallel ones from evil. They receive magical powers from the amulet known as the Heart of Kandrakar. Their powers are based on elements: fire, water, earth, air and energy. Our main characters are about 13-15 years old. In the animated series they are younger and they attend middle school, making them 12-14 years old. But the transformation makes them look 18-20. They look like young women to each other and to other people. At the same time, people can recognise them, their looks and voice don't change. Most people don't know that they are really teenagers when they are not transformed and these people don't know that magic can make them look older. That's why everyone treats Guardians like adults when they are transformed. Comics establish this fact in the very beginning. In first issues characters state that they look older, we are also shown this multiple times.

In fact, one of the first side plots revolves around the fact that Irma uses her powers to sneak into the disco club to meet up with her crush. Irma is 13 at the beginning of the series, she is a high school freshman. Her crush, Andrew Hornby is a senior guy 17-18 years old. Irma has liked him for a long time and wants to impress him, so she decides to be clever about this. She transforms into her Guardian form of the 18-year-old girl, hides her wings, sneaks out to the club after her parents are asleep without any problem, and meets Andrew, who obviously doesn't recognise Irma in this girl who looks about his age. Smitten Andrew offers her a ride and 13-year-old Irma doesn't understand the implication of that offer, so she accepts. And, obviously, he decides that she is interested in more than just a ride home, since she agreed, and the comic implies that he fully intended for them to have sex in the backseat of his car. But Irma understands the implication only when Andrew tries to kiss her. She panics and turns him into a frog. And she actually pulls this "I need to look mature" trick more than once over the course of the series.

It's not the only situation where this age difference is handled well and makes sense. People who know the main characters in everyday life remark on their older appearance during transformation. Sometimes people flirt with Guardians when they are transformed. In one of the side-novels centred around Cornelia, she is worried that the prince of the realm they helped to save from famine would try to marry her. That never happens, but Cornelia actually brainstorms with her friends about how to tell the prince that she is really 15.

There are many other plot points where this happens, but I think that you got the idea. I really like how "Age Glamour" was handled in W.I.T.C.H.

How do we fix this? Create the situations where people offhandedly mention "Age Glamour" in the presence of Marinette or Adrien, use Kwami for this.

"Don't worry, dear. Chat Noir and Ladybug are adults, who know what they are doing. I am sure that they will handle this. "

Theo could say: "Oh, I wonder which university Ladybug goes to?"

"So, does that mean that other people see us as grown-ups, Tikki?"

A few words and boom, problem solved. Then allow the "show don't tell" rule do the rest.

[hogwartstoalexandria]

Tease

2085w | Explicit | Hotchgan: Aaron Hotchner/Derek Morgan

Additional Tags:

Established Relationship, Married Couple, Sexual Tension, Horny Aaron Hotchner, Rough Sex, Couch Sex, Anal Sex, Banter, Bottom Derek Morgan, Fluff, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot

Part 6 of 50 Tropes till Winter (Criminal Minds), prompt list here.

Summary:

Aaron runs into Derek as he comes out of the headquarters gym and can't get the image out of his mind.

Read here on AO3, or under the read more.

"Hey," Derek passed his head in the door, decided Aaron looked just idle enough to bother, and locked the door behind him. 

"Hello..." Aaron's voice trailed off as he watched him close the blinds next and Derek flashed him a wide grin. He'd changed into work-appropriate clothes of course, but he couldn't chase the image of Aaron's faint blush from his mind. "What are you doing?" 

"I thought I'd come help you with your little problem," Derek quipped, walking around to sit on the edge of Aaron's desk, their legs touching just barely. 

"My little..." 

"Yeah," he leaned down, studying the way the other man's lashes fluttered almost imperceptibly as he sat back in his chair, trying to get away. "You know..." He looked down at Aaron's lap and then quickly back to his eyes, biting his smiling lips when there it was— the blush. 

"This is not appropriate," Aaron tried. Foolish attempt, desperate measures. 

Derek shut him up with a kiss that dragged on, delighting in the way his husband responded immediately. He could put up all the fake stop signs he wanted, Derek could always tell when he truly wasn't in the mood, and today was not one of those. Not after Derek had caught him staring at him from across the lobby that morning as he left the gym, using the bottom half of his shirt to wipe his face of the sweat. He was going home for a shower, always did, he hated public ones and as much as he'd hoped it was still early enough that Aaron would still be there, getting ready or sipping coffee, seeing him ogling him was a second best Derek was happy to take. 

"Liked what you saw?" He whispered, moving away just enough that neither would go cross-eyed when they opened their eyes again. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," Aaron shrugged, but he smiled when Derek laughed, and he let him when he curled his hand around the back of Aaron's neck and kissed him again. 

"Sure you don't." 

He took his time licking away Aaron's inhibitions, his sense of time and place and just when he could feel him getting a little restless, Derek drew back. 

"Let's talk about this again tonight, see if you do then." 

Aaron's nostrils flared as he took a deep breath, squirming in his seat slightly as he glared at him. "Close the door on your way out." 

Derek had to hide his smile as he made his way across the bullpen and to his desk, but it was worth it. Every bit of it. The text that had his phone buzzing in his pocket confirmed that for him too. 

"You'll be sorry." 

Derek wasn't sorry. He didn't regret a thing when getting home later than Aaron — stupid administrative shit he had to get done before leaving or Strauss would have his ass — meant he didn't have time to even close the door properly behind him before a caveman attacked his neck from behind. He laughed, startled and instantly hot under the thin collar of his sweatshirt.

"Someone in a rush?" 

Aaron didn't answer him other than by pushing him harder against the door, the man's body pressed against his back and ass, arousal more than evident and fuck, it wasn't often that Aaron got like this but Derek relished every instance. 

"Tease," Aaron spat in his neck, his hands sliding under Derek's clothes to trace angry lines over his stomach. Again, he felt the heavy weight of Aaron's anticipation against his ass and Derek couldn't help but moan. He sagged back into Aaron's solid hold. He let him map his chest from behind, let him mouth at the back of his neck and only moaned louder when the other man cursed praise down his ear. 

"So hot," Aaron groaned once he'd dragged them backwards. They didn't go further than the couch before Aaron sat down heavily and pulled Derek down with him. He straddled him with more laughter bubbling in his throat, a pleasure so light in his chest that Derek couldn't stop grinning. Aaron glared at him all the while, but his hands kept sliding over his hips, over his abs, and skating up to his sternum. "Take it off, please." 

"Polite," Derek laughed again, leaning down to steal a kiss as Aaron removed his hands just long enough for him to do as asked. Then he replaced them with his lips. One of his arms pulled Derek flush to him by the waist as his lips trailed over his pecs and Derek's smile dimmed, a rumble of pleasure leaving him at the sensation, at the hunger… Desire so obvious and hot under his ass and tenting his own jeans. 

"Fuck, you make me crazy, baby," Derek raked the knuckles of one hand down Aaron's clothed back, his other hand clamping in his hair. More kisses across his chest turned into licks flicking over his skin, lighting a path of wet fire over a nipple, a collarbone, and back up to his lips. 

"I make you crazy?" Aaron moaned into the kiss, his hips bucking under Derek, making his back arch, tearing more sounds from him. 

"What do you want?" Derek breathed, more kisses, more hands messing Aaron's hair, fingers deftly undoing his tie and the buttons of his shirt. 

"Oh, you know what I want." 

It was true, but the dark, naked desire in Aaron's voice still made Derek shiver. Their clothes fell on the carpet, one piece at a time, and when Aaron pushed him onto his side, slotting himself behind him, Derek went. He felt the coolness of slicked fingers prod at him, Aaron's voice in his neck, dirty promises spilling down his lips with each thrust as he prepared him. He made quick work of it and it was just as well because Derek's cock was already leaking on the leather of the couch. It would be a bitch to clean— he couldn't really think about that just now though—

"Shit," Derek bit down on his fist as Aaron's hand slid under his thigh, holding it up as he pushed his cock inside. "Fuck, fuck…" 

It burned just right, the stretch hotter even than Aaron's breath as he buried his face in the crook of Derek's neck. 

"Been thinking about this all day." 

Derek couldn't speak. When Aaron got going, when he let loose and started fucking him long and hard, his usual restrained self a distant souvenir, it was all Derek could do to hold on for the ride. It wasn't so much that he couldn't keep up as that it burned his nerves raw, getting to experience this side of him, causing it to come out. It was the sexiest thing he knew, and fuck he was going to enjoy every second of it. 

He found Aaron's hand on his thigh and held on to his hard grip, throwing his head back, groaning in bliss as it fell perfectly on Aaron's shoulder. The couch wasn't nearly big enough to accommodate this, but it didn't stop either of them. The precariousness of the position made Derek push back into Aaron's thrusts, made him press himself ever closer to his chest, into his arm, onto his cock. He cried out whenever a change of angle pushed Aaron in just the right spot, stars dancing under his closed eyelids, sparks at the tips of his fingers as he cursed and encouraged more, harder, faster. 

"Derek… Derek..." His name a chopped chant in Aaron's breathlessness. 

He turned his head just enough to catch his husband's lips in a messy kiss, the position impossible to maintain until Aaron's free hand snaked under his neck and supported his jaw. Tongues twisting around whimpers and swearing alike, sweat making their bodies slip back and forth and the leather squeak. It was harsh. It was unnerved. It was everything Derek loved about Aaron letting go like this, fucking the both of them out of their minds. There was an urgency to his motions that nothing could shake, years after they'd first met like this, pushed each other against the walls of an elevator in Michigan, fucked against the floor-to-ceiling windows of the room they'd had to share. Nothing could change this, them, and that knowledge pushed Derek closer and closer to the edge with each kiss, each graze of Aaron's nails as his hand finally let go of his leg to wander back to his chest. 

"Sexy," Aaron groaned, "So hot, mine…" 

That, more than anything, got Derek's blood pumping almost too hard, his lungs seizing to find more air than the room even contained. His voice almost a whine, Derek bit into what he could read of Aaron's neck, "Yours." 

Aaron's cock twitched inside him, his thrusts growing more and more erratic. His hand closed around Derek's own arousal, the heat of his hand not enough to match that of his dick— he could come without Aaron's hand stroking him, but having his rough palm rubbing the shaft, his large fingers pressing around the head and swiping over the slit made Derek's mind swim that much more. It made his legs shake. It meant Aaron was close. It meant he wanted them to come together. 

"With you," Derek confirmed, moving back and forth between Aaron's cock and his fist, losing his mind, his hold on reality outside those arms, outside Aaron's warmth. He wanted to feel it, wanted to feel Aaron's release inside him, know he'd been marked inside and out, know that this chance run-in outside the gym this morning had had that much of an effect on the other man. Years into this relationship, and the very idea that Aaron's desire for him was still that strong, maybe even stronger than it was at the beginning, was what eventually did it. 

Derek's eyes rolled back as he pushed back as far as he could, until he was completely pressed against Aaron's front, his chest and pelvis and thighs, and he came, moaning something that might have been his name, or a prayer, or a gargled laugh. Aaron stroked him through it, his slick palm wringing more cries out of him as he lost his rhythm completely. He came with his teeth sinking in the back of Derek's neck, another imprint, another way his touch burned through Derek's defenses and what weak strengths he still had. They collapsed together, Aaron growing soft inside him yet not giving the slightest hint that he intended on moving just yet. It was perfect. 

"Caveman Hotchner, ladies and gentlemen," Derek laughed again a while later, when he blinked his eyes open and found Aaron staring at him with an adoration that was difficult for him to look at square on. 

It made Aaron smirk, a smug kind of thing that brought that special light in his eyes, humor and quiet confidence. 

"You don't have to look so damn good when you're proud of yourself, it's insufferable." Derek grumbled, but he couldn't stop grinning to save his life, and he went easily when Aaron pulled out and maneuvered them into a hug, rubbing his face against Derek's damp skin. 

"I love you," Aaron whispered, almost an afterthought, a rare music that Derek held close to his heart. 

"Love you, too," he squeezed Aaron's hand where it rested against his heart. They were both filthy, but Derek had a feeling the shower would only lead to more of the same so he stayed put a while longer, catching his breath and enjoying the quiet, the affection, the banter. 

"You good?" Aaron asked, nerves in his voice, the same he always got when he got a little rougher. Derek loved that, too, as unnecessary as it was. He hummed, turning around in his arms to face Aaron and kiss him. 

He let his hands roam Aaron's body, tracing scars and the dips in his muscles, butterfly kisses of his fingers skating across his hip bone, the line of his nose, the column of his throat. He went slow, savoring the quiet as they settled. "I'm great," he said, "I'm going to make love to you in a minute, in our bed, like a well-mannered husband," Aaron huffed at that but Derek shushed him with a finger to his lips and another smile, "But for now I'm good here. Touching you. Watching you. I'm perfect." 

Aaron didn't reply, but the soft blush on his cheeks was answer enough. Derek kissed that, too. 

[lovecolibri]

Chris did Alex dirtier this season than Carina did in S2, and I truly didn't think it was possible. Between no recognition of his S2 treatment with bonus Delmanes, keeping Malex in the bubble even in an established relationship, and stripping him of his one decent family member and only friend to talk to, I am struggling to think what he got out of this season just for himself. And even established Malex, as effortlessly amazing as Vlamburn are together, slowly became about Alex giving Michael a series of pep talks for his growth, which just reminds you that Alex 1) had to get there completely on his own with no support whatsoever and 2) was already fully committed to Michael by 1x13 and willing to open up about the hard stuff. He's been mostly waiting around for Michael ever since. I don't know what S4 has in store for him, but now I am as wary of what Chris claims to love as I was of Carina.

I'm not sure if it was worse than season 2 and forcing him to be smiling and supportive of m*luca while making him constantly remind m*ria that Michael is actually a good person worth spending time with and doing all her emotional labor in the relationship while also being Michael's punching bag when c*rina thought angst was needed, and being Michael's emotional support when m*ria was too busy gaslighting, gatekeeping, and girlbossing to be bothered.

But the fact that season 3 refused to even think about addressing Alex's mistreatment last season while having him constantly talking about how wonderful m*ria is was especially heinous. And taking his brother and turning him into an entirely different person and then only letting him have scenes with m*ria (and the group with everyone acknowledging them no less) was an added slap in the face. Like you said, Alex has been ready since he came to talk to Michael about him being an alien. He wanted to build a solid foundation at that point, but finding out Michael was trying to leave forever obviously freaked him out a little. But instead of being allowed to talk about it, they had to suffer through that dumpster fire of season 2 and then they weren't even allowed to address it this season! Don't get me wrong, I ADORE domestic Malex and I do think that once they went all in on the relationship that's exactly how it would play out, but we missed seeing the lead up and hashing out of things BEFORE they got together, but then we also didn't really get to see it AFTER either, because they still aren't allowed to address the season 2-shaped elephant in the room.

It's just so deeply frustrating because they had the set up this season to deliver some really great storylines and to allow Vlamburn to give Malex the kind of story they want to tell, and to allow Tyler to FINALLY be allowed to dig into Alex like he so desperately wants to do. But there was no time, because instead they decided to make half the season about m*ria instead of any of the ACTUAL important plots of the season and everything suffered. But man do those graphs tell a story about who suffered the most.

[tsumuniri]

━━━ Atsumu Miya is a free-loader. Living inside his twin brother's home as if it was his, he would bring home girls and annoy Osamu most of the time. Y/N L/N is quite the opposite apparently because she's a virgin loser. Being the popular anonymous BL mangaka known as Yamazaki, she stays in the homey abode of her parents and watches boys from afar for references (not for admiration sadly).

Now what will happen if fate decided to tie these two idiots together and made them live across each other in one apartment?

。m.list ❯❯ prev┃next

ONE ━━ THE TWIN BROTHER’S DECISION

"SO THAT'S THE TEA?"

You nodded dejectedly and raised the Tuna Mayo Onigiri in the direction of your mouth. You bit into the delicious rice snack, humming in delight as the saucy and sweet flavors of tuna cheered you up just for a slight bit. "They said that a girl my age shouldn't be living with her parents and should finally get a guy instead of drawing an imaginary one. You know that they're old school, Mai." You said, mouth full of rice bits and tuna.

The female ran her fingers through her short bright red hair. "Well, you are 25 now, and you haven't got a boyfriend since middle school," She propped her elbow on top of the round wooden table, resting her chin on her palm. "But they should've told you beforehand, right? How are you supposed to look for a residence in a short span of time?" She asked and watched you devour the onigiri meal with such ease. Her black-colored eyes held an uncertain expression as Mai was concerned for her colleague and friend.

After hearing the unfortunate news directly from your loving parents, your mind had to process the sudden information for two solid minutes. The first person you thought of to call is your closest friend, Mai, your roommate back at art school and a mangaka in the shounen industry. Although the two genres have completely different backgrounds, you two are stuck together like peas in a pod through the grace and glory of fawning over 2d men.

Ain't that great?

"They said I could stay back for two weeks until I could find a place to move in. I still have nine days to move out. And as for the residence part..."

You rummaged through the leather bag slung over your shoulder and took out a creased brochure of a newly built apartment based in the heart of east Osaka with its breathtaking cherry blossom conifers and pious shrines. The leaflet's minimalistic design delineated the idiosyncratic architectural structure of the tall building on the front page. Anybody could tell that this jointly owned establishment may settle for tenants with stable incomes.

For someone who changed the BL archives with her plot-driven works, Y/N could provide the fees to rent a homey room on the clabber-plastered apartment complex.

Mai shifted on her seat and studied the brochure on the table with interest— crossing her legs and leaning her torso forward to get a full view of the given pamphlet. "The building does seem promising. You could even check out your works in the Manga Shops at the city." She remarked as her eyes skimmed through the brochure, taking note of the facilities and rooms for the future tenants.

"Right? I already checked the place out yesterday, and coincidentally, the studio office is close by," The H/C-haired female pushed back the tiny strands of baby hair tickling her forehead as it was annoying her smooth skin. "They even allow pets. The apartment buildings I visited mostly don't allow pets, and the others who do, they have weird-ass tenants whom I don't really wanna be neighbors with." She ended, scratching the back of her neck.

"Soooooo, that's the apartment you're planning to move in."

You nodded your head, "I prepared the papers and told my parents about it. Maybe you can help me move my things out?" You suggested to your friend as your leg overlapped with the other, biting into another piece of onigiri from the porcelain plate.

Tilting her head to the side, Mai let out a light scoff from the BL mangaka's proposition as she gestured her hand downwards. "I'm offended, Y/N! Of course, I'll help you." She expressed her whimsical disbelief through her words. "I thought we were best of friends." The young lady teased.

"After all those collab fan arts of the Akatsuki, why wouldn't we be at this point?" You joked; however, the shinobi anime reference wasn't technically a gag as you both had a history of fangirling over the smexy criminal organization— even if you both had a peculiar taste in men. "By the way, why did you choose this place? Isn't this sort of far away from your workplace?" You questioned the red-haired female, a bit curious on why she decided to meet up with you in this Onigiri Restaurant.

Mai's lips turned up into a smirk as she motioned her finger for you to move closer. "My assistants and I decided to eat here after a hard day's work. By the time we were all seated, our eyes got blessed when the restaurant's owner catered to our table!" She whispered with excitement dipped on her tongue.

"Oh boy, if you had seen him, you would've gotten the inspiration to make a character from his well-sculpted face."

You raised a brow and let out a snortle, "We went here because a hot owner caught your attention? I should've gone with you then." You played along and couldn't help but laugh at your friend's reason for dining out a distance away from her studio office.

Like middle schoolers, you both giggled as Mai continued her story of the dashing Onigiri restaurant owner with her witty play of words. You never had any interest in dating; however, you still bid no mind to your friend's fawning over pretty men who would unlikely pay attention to either of them.

"That owner you're talking about might not visit his restaurant, Mai."

"I know, silly! But I do wonder what that work of art does outside his work."

Osamu is a very patient man. May it be through his responsibility of running an Onigiri business, or may it be just a simple waiting in line at the subway station of Tokyo, the male wouldn't lose his temper nor be frustrated over such trivial things.

But when his exhausted figure slugged inside the comforts of his home and found the living room all trashed with empty bottles of energy drinks and bags of chips, Osamu was finally at his breaking point.

"Atsumu, you mother-fucker... COME DOWNSTAIRS THIS INSTANT!" He burst out, calling out his twin brother's name as he began picking up the trashes scattered throughout his coffee table and his lawson couch. His ears caught the sound of loud footsteps thumping on the wooden-tiled floor as he could immediately tell that it was a certain someone who came down the stairs.

A bed of ruffled blonde hair popped out of the stairway as a certain setter casually jumps into the scene of the untidy crime, walking towards the other twin with open arms.

"Welcome home, Samu! Did your staff make a mistake in the newly-opened shop back at Shinjuku? You look a bit frustrated right now-"

Atsumu stopped himself once he noticed his twin brother standing over the mess he forgot to clean up. His arms dropped to the side while his chocolate eyes shifted over to Osamu's annoyed expression, "Okay. This time, I absolutely forgot to clean up." The male tried to explain himself.

The quiet one of the two shook his head in disapproval, sighing out and pinching the bridge of his nose to calm his fiery nerves. "I found this apartment, Tsumu. I think it's best for the both of us if you could finally get your own place." He stated, hearing the slight choke coming from his brother's throat.

"WHAT?! What made you think that this would be the best for the both of us, Samu?" Atsumu protested, his eyebrows furrowing together in confusion as to why his brother would suggest that sort of idea.

Osamu raised his hand and lifted three of his fingers to his twin's eye level. "First, you sometimes disrupt my sleep whenever you'd bring your flings at home," He stated and didn't bother to let the other speak their mind about the issue at hand as he continued his statement of reasons. "Second, you'd sometimes forget to do your lists of chores and often lie that you didn't do them because you were tired from training." He paused for a moment, thinking of a third reason until it clicked in the back of his mind.

"Lastly, you're a 23 professional athlete, who makes a lot of money than what I usually make, and yet, you're living with your twin brother."

Atsumu stared at Osamu as he crossed his arms, "So? You'll kick me out if I don't move out of your place?" He derided, his voice mostly holding a hint of teasing as he knew his brother wouldn't act so rashly over those reasons.

Oh, was the male so wrong.

"Yes, Tsumu. I'm kicking you out."

[impaladolan]

Capture - Grayson Dolan [8/-]

summary: y/n is quick to plot revenge.. but does she get away with it..?

warnings: swearing, alcohol consumption, and smut :)

a/n: i seriously love you

Anonymous said:

Ooohoohohoh I’m excited for her to steal his Rolex haha omg maybe she wears it and doesn’t give him it back when he asks for it OMG u know what would be cute!! if one day she goes snooping in his bedroom and tries on his chain necklace n rings and he walks out the shower n he’s like ummmm ok ily

Anonymous said:

i want y/n to ride gray’s thigh in his office, like he’s just got in still fully in his suite w his gun on his belt and she just walks in and strips 👀👀

Anonymous said:

I have an idea hehe!! WhYi f y/n gets drunk like she f inds alcohol in graysons office or kitchen or something and shes being really bratty but it’s so cute and she’s giving him nose kissies and hugging up and telling him stuff and he’s just listening and loving her

Relaxation.

That's how you'd explain the certain state of euphoria I'm embezzled within. Young love is a treacherous trap that can either end in favor, or be torn to shreds in only mere moments. To feel so passionate and fervently invested in someone you've only ever known and loved is such a thrill, and you could never forget those memories embedded in your mind.

Like right now, laying in bed while the sun's first shine leaks through the window and gleams down upon the two of us, nuzzled under the covers. His leg was wrapped over mine and his arms hung loosely around my hips, sheltering me from ever possibly leaving his grasp. I was the first to wake, but I dared not to move an inch.

The world around me was motionless, so peaceful and calm. Nothing could bother or disrupt the atmosphere around me. Everything felt so perfect, embraced by the one I love and the man I admire. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could ever unsettle me in this moment.

At least, that's what I keep telling myself...

A darkness warped over my newly sunken eyes, shielding the world around me. I called out his name, but nothing came out. The warmth I once felt upon my body, vanished into the air and seemed like it'd never return. The world became cold and useless, all the positivity and tranquility that once surrounded me was blown away and now, I sit in darkness;

All by myself.

Him.

-

It seemed too early in the morning to be awake at such an hour, but you had crashed shortly after making it back to your room last night. You were so mortified and embarrassed, for all those men to see you so vulnerable and being punished. Though, the crazy inside you kind of liked it, but still, it pushed boundaries.

Initially, you had wanted to sleep in all day, and hopefully never leave your room ever again. Although, today's forecast decided otherwise. A ground shaking rumble of thunder made you awaken and the shoestring lighting bolts strung across the darkened sky had drawn you in. Since you essentially have no concept of time, whatsoever, you had to believe it was early in the morning, unless you really had slept in all day...

It's been presumably an hour or so since you first fluttered your eyes open. By now, you had plotted a sickening revenge to his outrageous acts he had committed only a day ago. Of course, you had created horribly ill plans that even you could never pull off. Such as vandalizing his expensive vehicles or even trashing the entire house. You had even gone as far as to planning an "accidental" fire in the kitchen.

But something inside you had put a halt to those thoughts.

Other than not wanting to be known as a malicious arsonist, you had some sort of pull towards him— but what that pull was, you couldn't figure out. The phrase; " Darling, I may be a stranger to you, but you're no stranger to me," has been left in your mind ever since the words first left his mouth. You couldn't possibly help but wonder what that even meant. You felt like you've known him from a past life somehow, and that could potentially explain the affection you have towards him. All of that aside, you have to remember that he isn't who your brain morphs him in to be. He's a felon who's abducted you and has pulled you away from society and everything you've ever been a part of.

For some reason, that's hard for you to mentally consider.

Aside from criminalizing yourself too by creating a fire or becoming a vandalizer, the best option is to state your assertiveness and trespass the "laws" that he has forbidden you ro break. Unlike yesterday's escapades of you ruining the dining room table, today you were up for higher anticipated endeavours. You had it all planned out and you knew what you'd do in order to complete your vengeances.

And he's not going to be very happy...

The atmosphere above and around you still rumbles with the loud, crackling thunder and the strikes of lightning flooding certain increments of light through the surrounding windows pave your path to the daunting door. You were still dressed in the white shirt that could barely pass as acceptable in the public eye, and your feet were frozen at the first touch of the wooden floor. You kept on like you have done in the previous times you have left your room for mischievous reasons. You silently open the door, leaving it wide open as you crept out of your assigned room and into the hallway. You knew that the very first place you would go would be the kitchen. No, you aren't creating a fire or any of the sort, but you were going to raid the fridge and have your fill with what it has to offer.

You walk straight past the opening and right into the glorious establishment of cookware, like it was your very own home and you were just up for a midnight snack. In all honesty, you could get used to living here.

If only it weren't forced onto you, that is.

Your fingertips soon collide with the long, frigid handle of the refrigerator door and pull it wide open, marveling at the large display of different beverages and foods strategically set up. Of course, it was mainly veggies and several healthy-looking meal options. Which didn't surprise you whatsoever.

He has a nice physique for a reason...

You couldn't find anything that made your stomach growl with hunger, until you opened up the freezer drawer and spotted a nice looking ice cream container. Still, it looked healthy and it'd make you all the more frozen, but it would manage to subside your aching sweet tooth for now. You pop open the lid and fish around the drawers for a utensil. With a content sigh, you plunge a huge spoonful of the solid liquid and empty it into your mouth, savoring every last flavor like it would be the last time you'd ever eat the sugary treat again. It was delicious, the absolute best ice cream you've ever devoured in the entirety of your life.

You almost ate half the jar until you decided you were parched and needed a nice drink to soothe your throat. Luckily this time you were familiar with where the glasses were kept and already had your hand wrapped around a large wine glass that was a little bit higher up than the rest of the glassware. You set it down quietly, trailing your eyes upon the clean and prim counter.

A tall, fancy upscale bottle of what looked to be whiskey was settled in the corner, nicely organized with the other alcoholic beverages that were of the same importance.

Now, you weren't exactly a "drink-whiskey-out-of-a-wine-glass" type of gal, but as they say; desperate times call for desperate measures— and you were on the search of something to loosen you up a bit, and that was that.

You brought the glass over to where you had stationed your cup, not even flinching when you uncork the liquor and pour its contents out. With improper proportioning of the said liquid, you put the whiskey back how it was.

"Fuck, here we go." You inaudibly groan to yourself, just knowing that you'll regret every decision you've made in the near future. Raising up the plum-full glass, you tip it back into your mouth and down a whole gulp.

Nasty.

It's definitely an acquired taste, but the barely detectable taste of vanilla made it hardly feasible. You dared to not put the glass down until you were finished with it and had that sour taste submitted through your fiery throat.

The least you could say was that it's pretty smooth, but not something you'd drink in your free time.

In your head, you knew you'd feel a bit wonky, considering your nearly empty stomach and your abstinence from alcohol for the last month or so. It'd be easy to feel the side effects and overall feel much better, like you were aiming for.

Once you drained the glass of every last drop, you held your breath and rushed to the sink. The overwhelming want to just regurgitate what you ingested had drawn upon you, but you refrained from doing so. Waiting out the sickly feeling, you run a bit of cold water over your hand and press it against your forehead for a moment. Everything became hot, even with the freezing temperatures, you felt like breaking a sweat.

All just the side effects of alcohol, I'm sure.

Within the passing minutes, the faintness flew away and the sounds of the thunderstorm filled your ears. A large banging of the clouds above frightened you and you knocked over the glass you had just rested your lips on.

You didn't even feel bad about all the shattered pieces on the floor, it actually brought a smile to your face and you were ready to begin the fully planned extravaganza.

First stop; his room.

You skipped back the hallway, still quiet but not as careful as before. You weren't afraid of any consequences and whatever he was going to do to you wouldn't be too harsh. It's not like he's embarrassed you enough already anyway.

You easily find his door, pushing the handle down as slow as possible, just in case he was asleep in his room. His door didn't creak as you opened it, and nor did his floorboards as you walked straight into his marvelous bedroom. It was extravagant, but yet it still felt homely. You check the bed, no sign of him or anyone for the matter. He probably at a meeting, or something.

Not that you care..

You continue your stroll, glancing around his room for anything that could spark your immediate attention, considerably his desk. It held a lot of his more—fashionably inclined belongings. Such as his masculine jewelry and expensive watches. There was even a small, purple ring that reminded you of something you had worn a long time ago. You brush that off, it brings up sore wounds from a time where you were a lot happier and everything was simpler.

I wish I could say that now..

You began to pick up the neatly placed objects, slipping a couple of heavy necklaces around your neck and the large rings upon your fingers. You laugh at the size difference of your hand and how they barely stay on your fingers.

The stationary mirror attached to the desk caught your eyes, and you begin to make funny faces at it. Which sends you into a hushed giggle fest that makes you double over in your seat. Still caught up in your laughter, you take off all of the rings, just leaving a couple on the desk and tossing a few over to his bed. You do the same with the necklaces, except for the two that you threw into one of the drawers.

That’s when your eyes caught the nice watches, stuffed in clear pouches with the brand labeled across them. Rolex is the first you saw, and the first one you picked up. You weren’t thinking clearly. Hence the reason you tore it out of it’s protective packaging and brought it up above your head, throwing it down to the ground and watching the tiny glass fragments splatter everywhere.

It’s not like he can’t buy a new one, right?

Feeling content and a little less frustrated, you left the messy scene and followed your footsteps back into the hallway. He didn't seem to hear you, so the determination to find out his name came across your mind and you became dead set on finding it, so you basically sprinted into his ominous office and delved into his comfy chair without care.

Your motor skills were altered and it seemed to take for ever to lift yourself out of the chair and tap on the computer keyboard for it to wake up. While it began its process of turning on, you led your hand down to the drawers and pulled at them. And that’s when you found the very first locked up thing in this house.

“Care to tell me what you’re doing in here darling?” His alluring voice blasted through your ears and made you leap upward. “It’s not been a day and you’re already back to being a brat?” You couldn’t see what he looked like, but his silhouette looked suited and enticing.

Very enticing, actually...

“M’trying to find out your name, Daddy.” You spoke before you could think, crossing your arms over your chest while your lips form a pout. His body leaves from the doorway, and you’re barely able to see him as he strides over towards you. Suddenly, a light flips on and you’re met with his beautiful frame, a smile daunting his face as he looks down at your innocence.

“You have no idea what you do to me, do you?” He moves closer, wrapping his hand under your chin while his other has his blazer hung on his finger and thrown towards his back. He looks cute in a smile, until it forms into a confused frown.

“Have you been drinking, Y/N?” Your eyes widen and you quickly nod. You knew you’d be in trouble with him anyway, so might as well be honest now. “I c-couldn’t sleep and I- I just wanted a sip of somethin’.” You shrug, looking downward as you give him an okayish explanation.

“You know what helps me sleep?” He lets your chin go, dropping his jacket and beginning to roll up his dress-shirt’s sleeves. You shake your head, chewing your bottom lip as you take in his appearance. “A nice cocksucking does.” Thunder crackles loudly outside as his husky voice deepens and makes a cool wind run down your spine.

“Then let me help you..” You wrap your arms around his neck, twisting him around and forcefully pushing him down in the chair you were once sitting in. You were about to fall to your knees to “help” him, but he pulls your hips towards him and sets you on his lap. You replace your hands around his neck, sinking your fingertips into his hair and massaging the silky softness of it. He sweetly sighs, readjusting the leg you were sat upon.

And that’s when you feel the sensation you’ve been craving for however long you’ve been here.. you think..

“M’hm, do that again..” You ask, your voice barely above a whisper. He actually obliges, his brows furrowed as he watches your face contort. “Like riding my thigh, huh?” He asks as he placed his large hands around your waist. You nod, moving your hips in the same direction. You eyes shut, your head falling back a little as you smoothly move against his muscled thigh.

It felt so good, everything felt so good actually. He somehow looked so much more attractive, the beard dotting his face and his hair styled nicely. Even what he was wearing had you wanting more.

You open your eyes for a moment, watching his pleased expression as he watches you needingly thrust yourself upon his warm, clothed thigh. He even steadily lifted his knee in the correct places, aiding in the pleasure that him alone could bring you. Your eyesight seemed foggy but visible enough to see the gun at his waist side, and you almost froze when you saw it. Even in your intoxicated state of mind, you knew that just the weapon could possibly help you escape and make it back to your own home.

You didn't think it through thoroughly..

You lean in, your lips next to his ear as you practically collapse upon him, though your movements to further yourself towards releasing didn't halt. You slipped your left hand down to his waist band, sensually gliding it over his tented groin. He shutters under your touch, clearing his throat as his heads falls back slightly. As quick as your body would let you, you grab for the handle of the gun and raise it up towards his forehead, stopping all your movements and gaining his attention.

"Y/N—" He starts, gliding his hands up your bare thighs.

"Don't fucking move, or I'll— I'll shoot you." You sounded clear as day in your head, but your words became slurred as they left your mouth, and he smirked at your innocence. Just as quickly as you pulled the gun, he took it away.

He grabbed the barrel and snatched it from your grip, placing it back into its holster at his side. You yelp as he grabs your wrists, twisting them around your back and slamming you into the table with an evil chuckle. "Better keep those hands pretty little hands to yourself, princess. You're too innocent to commit murder anyway." He continues his hoarse chuckles, licking a stripe up his hand before striking your slick pussy. "D-Ahh!" You hiccup, pressing your legs as close together as you can.

“Better fuckin’ pray that you can walk tomorrow, darling...”

to be continued...

[danisaur-arts]

THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES: BOOK REVIEW

Spoilers ahead, read at your own risk

A couple of weeks ago, I was rewatching Catching Fire to have something in the background while I painted my nails. Truth is I was too hooked with the movie to do much painting, and that's how 2013 me took over and I became invested in the world of the Hunger Games again. I reread the trilogy and then got TBoSaS for a Christmas gift.

I knew absolutely nothing about the book. For a while I even thought it was about Haymitch's games. But after opening it I realized it was about president Snow?! I was mind-blown but also excited to get this perspective on how a young boy became a horrid viper president.

The book, with all honesty, starts quite very slow. But so does The Hunger Games and also Gregor the Overlander. Collins likes to have a solid establishment of the protagonist's world before diving into the story. In my opinion, TBoSaS opening is the slowest opening of all her books, but not without justification.

As the story moves on, we are presented to an ambitious Coriolanus Snow. Mind you, ambitious, not evil yet. He meets Lucy Gray Baird, District 12's girl tribute who he had to mentor for the 10th Hunger Games, and us the readers are quick to pick up the spark this Covey girl had on Panem's future president.

Snow's relationship to Lucy Gray Baird developed an entire new persona of him. His usual hateful and ambitious character he usually has when talking to the likes of Sejanus or Dean Highbottom is gone when he's with Lucy Gray. That scared me at the beginning, because it sort of made Snow empathize-able and also low-key made me ship him with Lucy Gray. But then I realized something, and you should keep this in mind when reading this book too; we already know Snow is evil, we genuinely know the book won't have a happy ending and we know there's no lovely future with Lucy Gray Baird. So, that means this book is not about a love story, or the games themselves. It is about how quickly a highschool boy can develop a dictator's ideology and how quickly the media can make something as horrible as the hunger games an entertaining show.

I particularly liked this bit about the hunger games in the book, to see this entirely different perspective of the games, not only on how they used to be organized, but on how they were seen by the people of the Capitol. To think many of them used to even hate them and find them gross is just proof that anything dressed nicely can fool the vanity of the people.

But back to Snow, I want to emphasize on the point that evil is not born, it is made. Snow did not develop his ideas by himself. Dr. Gaul was clearly pulling his strings. Feeding him with her ideology and pushing the little things we all think in the darkest part of our hearts to the surface, Making Snow justify them as necessary. Maybe he had evil in him, but it was Dr. Gaul who shaped it to the man he became. And Snow didn't let her down, because at the end, it is our actions who define us, not our words. And he proved to live by his evil ideas (rip Sejanus, we will always miss you even though you were a drama queen)

And I think Snow developed this mindset ^^ towards the ending. What he had with Lucy Gray Baird had the potential of becoming something lovely, but it was merely something based on a crush. Ladies and lads, do not be fooled by kisses! Snow became gradually possessive about Lucy Gray as the story developed, because he was also settling on his idea about control. But Lucy Gray is someone so spontaneous and free that it seemed impossible to chain her up. He may have loved her the most, but the impossibility of controlling her led him to a choice, to leave her or to destroy his ideology by staying with her. So he grew to hate her, as he hated his incapacity to control the Mockingjays... As he hated Katniss Everdeen

His desire to control everything blinded him. Desperately clinging to his lucky card that Snow lands on top, he forgot one thing:

The show's not over until the Mockingjay sings

Overall, the book has some cool hooking moments, but is quite slow when sometimes it shouldn't be. I definitely think it could've been a little shorter than it is. There are some events in the plot that feel fanfiction-ish, like the "rebel explosion" in the arena before the games, still trying to decipher the need of that one. Most of the characters names are incredibly hard to pronounce and remember. And I feel the ending was a little too rushed. I am not a fan of the way Collins writes epilogues tbh, but she's still a genius queen. The loose ends on Lucy Gray bothered me at first, but as someone pointed out, she is a mystery herself, no wonder her ending is one as well.

I loved to see this new ambiance of an almost defeated capitol and how the games used to be. Loved Tigris' moments which only add more fire to how Snow treated her years later. Lucy Gray is what I aspire to be and I also loved all the backstory Collins gave to all secondary characters.

The plot is well driven and the story, while slow, can be very hooking.

.

Rating: 8/10

[buddha-in-disguise]

I have so much to unpack from last night's Supergirl episode. Since it ends at 3am UK time, I often tweet a little before I finally fall asleep. But it is now midday, so here goes on further thoughts on it all. I know this is going to be pretty rambling but I hope it makes sense.

First. Up until this half of the season, not only did Supergirl consistently trend in the UK, so did other words associated with it, most notably Kara and Lena.

Since 5B began, the trending has failed to materialise in the UK. The hiatus of two those blocks almost immediately on top of each other hasn't helped, but it is still a salient point.

Now for the rest. I'm not even sure where to start, but I will try my best.

The opening scenes in the bar.

No Nia. No Kelly. Where were they? Nothing was even mentioned. It wouldn't have taken much to have Alex say if Kelly was working, or running late. Anything. Hell, they had Kelly/Dansen and Nia meet up in a bar scenario in 5A. Why suddenly are they not there? They wouldn't necessarily need dialogue (I mean, Kelly has barely had any since Crisis anyway, so what's new?)

Yet in walks William and suddenly Alex is teasing Kara about inviting him. Winn is also there saying, hey it's okay. You barely know the guy, you had a shitty relationship beforehand, but go ahead, date the dude.

We had a prime opportunity for the Danver sisters to do karaoke together. Instead it was with William. At the expense of sister time (so many would’ve loved the sisters singing together).

So much here is wrong for me as a viewer.

If you have a show about female empowerment, yet the lead of that show is having to be told by others that dating a guy she has barely shared any positive moments with, let alone any romantic feelings for beyond a really awkward moment the episode before; that is not empowering a woman.

All too often Supergirl (as the lead in the show) is looking at dating, but not being capable of making her own romantic choices without the interference from others around her.

The only one I can think of who didn't need that was S1 James and to some degree Adam. Kara showed interest, but ultimately made the decisions on her own. Kara also recognised that with Winn, they were better off as friends. Yet S2 began and inexplicably Kara and James had broken up, and the need for Kara to get told to go for it by others began.

Mon-El was extremely problematic. As is William. Both were allowed to lie, to treat women like garbage at times with immunity. Yet here is another double standard. Kara and the Superfriends lied to Lena for 3 years, yet Lena is a bad person for reacting. I will repeat what has been said I don't know how often about Lena's reaction. It isn't without issue in how she is dealing with it. She isn't evil, but she has handled it badly. Her own emotional trauma, that was partly unpacked in 5A helps though explain why she behaved as she has.Yet, Mon-El faced no consequences for his actions. William can be a complete nightmare in how he treated Kara in 5A, but all is suddenly forgotten about or forgiven because of the reset? That is a cop out if ever there was one.

This hypocrisy is what annoys me the most, and frankly it is misogynistic all too often.

I actually pity any woman who believes it is okay for a man to behave as many do towards Kara. The message it sends is awful. I know the men in my family would be horrified by the actions of these love interests. I know of some men watching the show who feel the same way.

As for Lena and Kara. The trauma both have faced has shaped them. Yet Kara appears unaffected by losing her world a second time when Earth 38 was destroyed. On losing Argo. Sure they got it back, but as a changed merged World. You expect us to believe having to watch an antimatter wave destroy those you love has no effect? That being trapped for months with only the other paragons and Lex didn't cause trauma, even with a positive outcome. That seeing Krypton destroyed the first time wasn’t traumatic enough. That’s not something that just goes away. Add in losing Jeremiah, losing Astra (again), the trauma Supergirl must face when she can’t rescue everyone, that has a lifelong impact.

Lena has shown her emotional trauma has also been lifelong, albeit in a different way. To dismiss the emotional abuse Lena has suffered to attack her actions now is pitiful. Winn even suggests to Kara, that in the future, Lena does come through this, and isn't evil personified some want to make her out to be.

Yet Mon-El gets excused, William gets excused. Ugh. I’m sick of the double standard.

So, let’s unpack this further. Kelly Olsen was in the military. She wasn't just trained, but had an active role in the army. She recounted an event at a checkpoint where she was serving in S4. So she had active service, and it was in that moment when Kelly decided she wanted to help others more.

Kelly also knows the stress of keeping an important part of your life secret. She then also fell in love with a woman, someone who was her Sergeant, who was then killed on patrol (another reason we know Kelly was on active duty). It devastated Kelly who hadn't even told James of her relationship.

Later, upon completing her service, Kelly became a psychologist specialising in trauma.

Nia is also someone facing problems. Not only did her becoming Dreamer lead to discord with her sister, as well as the tragic loss of her mother, she has problems with Brainy. Nia offered to be there for Kelly when she was upset over watching Alex get hurt, but we saw nothing to suggest they had a heart to heart. Azie posted something that suggested they filmed a scene that did this, but it never made it on the final edit. Instead, once again we had William taking screen time.

So anyway, the point of all this is: guess who is placed to actively help Lena and/or Kara with the problems?

Kelly. Who apparently doesn't know Kara is Supergirl yet. So while Kara wonders if she should tell William, she could have the exact same conversations with Alex, only substitute Kelly for William. Overall, the plot could easily be maintained, and the established cast get good solid and plausible screen time. She could even talk to Nia about it, yet doesn't.

Another thing I find hard to understand is why haven't they used the link of Kelly, working at Obsidian North, where they could establish the Leviathan link.

If Lex has made the connection to Leviathan, you are telling me, even without Brainy helping them, Alex, Nia, J'onn and Kara haven't made the same connection? C'mon. Two investigative journalists, one who has won the Pulitzer, two DEO trained agents, and if Kelly was brought in, someone military trained; aren't able to make the connections? J'onn has all those computer banks in the tower, and while none of them are Brainy or Winn, he can't use said computing power? Why bother having it, if they are only props in the background. They could even ask Lena to help, since she has shown willingness to work with them if the reasoning was good enough. Leviathan is someone she knows (after all, Lena could have her memories returned by J’onn too). She knows the danger Leviathan poses. She could use the leverage to still get the lens from Obsidian in a similar way to now, but through Kelly if needed.

Actually, if they are using the tower, how does J’onn afford to pay for all this? I can only assume being as old as he is, he made some great investments over time, allowing him to be independently wealthy? But again nothing really suggests this.

Oh as for Alex leaving the DEO, great. After all, she was the Director but hasn’t been able to lead the DEO in all that time. Let alone some of the morally grey areas the DEO skirted around all too often. Still, where will she get her income from? Does she get paid as part of J’onn’s PI firm? Kara barely makes rent and food costs (at least she says her apartment is rent controlled so wouldn’t be able to afford it otherwise), so no way can she afford to help Alex out financially. Kelly might be able to support her, but again I cannot imagine it would be sustainable.

I feel like banging my head against a brick wall.

Onto Nia. I've said this a few times now, but here I go again. Back to William. I get the reason he came along in regards to Russell and so the Andrea connection. That story made sense. What hasn't made sense - William being used as a journalist, when Nia is right there! Nia has barely had any screen time, and virtually none as a journalist; you know - her actual job. I'm not sure what the minutes on screen ratio has been this season between the two, but it has felt completely slanted towards William as a viewer.

Instead of Kara and Nia investigating Leviathan after William was 'exposed' in 5A, now Nia is sidelined again, because they want Kara to team up with William to investigate Lex. Why do they need that journalistic pairing of William and Kara, when Nia - who as a Superhero, is better placed if danger from Lex occurs. But no, they're making it about Kara having to work with William because Lex threatened to kill him. Plus Nia was being mentored by Kara. Is she no longer being mentored by Kara? Are they a team? Even if the mentoring has ended, Nia is still not being utilised as a journalist. As the saying goes, make it make sense!

As for Lex. I love Jon Cryer. I’ve loved his version of Lex, but once again I feel Lena is just as well placed to take on his role in bringing down Leviathan. Why add another villain to this plot? We were told it was Leviathan who were the bad guys for this season, but once again we barely have a glimpse of them, but all the screen time on Lex, also to the detriment of Lena. We could be using this time to begin to mend Lena’s relationships with not only Kara, but the Superfriends. Instead we are getting bit and pieces, that seemingly bear little resemblance to the ‘fight for Lena’s soul’, or the ‘Stronger together, weaker apart’ tag lines the SG team used to market the series in 5A. (See attached photo). So again, this is frustrating for us to watch, as there is absolutely no cohesion to the storytelling. We know it is the ‘nothing is as it seems’ season, but to have no really coherent storylines so far this late on? It is baffling for me.

The sidelining of Nia and Kelly also brings to the fore the way the LGBTQ characters are being treated.

Dansen feels like a long lost legend from the mists of time. As I said earlier, there was a perfect opportunity for a Dansen scene in the opening part of the show, yet we might as well watch tumbleweeds fly past, for all the screen time Dansen or Nia have had. Well, rather haven’t had.

It seems we shouldn't ask for justification as to why William is on the show, but when we say the LGBTQ characters are being sidelined, that it doesn't matter one jot how diverse a cast can be; if said cast are not being given credible storylines or screentime, and if we say as much, we have to continually justify why that is the case. We get told to take what we are given. To insist on better, is oppressing white CIS men (in some cases CIS women have argued the same). This isn't oppressing anyone, but asking that if we get given relationships, given characters we want to invest in, they get the storylines to accomplish that. Supergirl is failing the LGBTQ audience so badly at the moment. So many have the same complaints it is ludicrous to suggest this is just one section of a fandom or trolls.

What I'm taking from all this at the moment is that 20% of the main viewing demographic as per GLAAD figures (and more besides, as I've seen straight viewers recognising the problems as well), have serious concerns with Supergirl.

But keep telling us we are overreacting. Or we should take what we are given. Or that we are delusional. After all, it is the kind of crap we have sprouted at us continually away from Supergirl, why shouldn't it be the case here.

I look at S4, heck even 5A, to what the show is doing now and it feels like an unmitigated disaster. Episodes are running out fast, so even if they increase Dansen, or Nia's screen time, it won't be enough to make up what has been lost. They're running out of time to give us a solid ending that ties up the mess they've created.

I really don’t know where this will end? CW Supergirl - do better. You have some phenomenal actors and actresses in your cast. Do them and your audience justice. Because right now you aren’t at all.